Welkom Gim 28-12 St John's
Welkom Gim was the first team to open the scoring tally early in the half with 03-00 from a penalty kick. St John's forced Welkom Gim into their half twice, however, Welkom Gim absorbed the pressure and escaped every time. Welkom Gim then scored a converted try after collecting a 22m dropout and racing down the sideline to score, increasing their lead to 10-00. They soon scored another try the same way by the same player when he intercepted a pass, further increasing their lead to 15-00. St John's again attacked into Welkom Gim's quarter, however, they could not score due to the solid Welkom Gim defence. Welkom Gim was now in control of the match and scored another try to take the score to 20-00 at halftime.
St John's opened their scoring tally 20-05 with a try 6 minutes into the second half after good forward attacking play on the Noordheuwel try line. Noordheuwel then came close to scoring points when they attacked into the St John's quarter, however, St John's defence held up. St John's then pinned Noordheuwel on their try line for a long time. However, handling mistakes at crucial times spoiled their scoring opportunities. They were eventually awarded for their efforts when they scored a converted try to close the scoring gap to 23-12 with 3 minutes left to play. However, Noordheuwel had the final say when they scored a converted try from loose play to win the match 28-12.
Hilton 32-30 Noordheuwel
Hilton fired the first shot when they scored a converted try within the first 2 minutes of the half by using their forwards to drive over the try line to take a 07-00 lead. Noordheuwel responded by driving up the ball with strong forward play of their own. They forced Hilton to concede a penalty in the Hilton quarter, which they kicked to open their scoring tally 07-03. Hilton, in turn, forced a penalty in the Noordheuwel quarter, which they kicked to increase their lead 10-03. This was followed by another penalty kicked by Noordheuwel, which closed the scoreline gap to 10-06. Hilton attacked the Noordheuwel try line with good phase play and scored a try. They scored another try soon thereafter when a Hilton player broke through the midfield defence. This increased their lead to 22-06 with 7 minutes left to play in the half. The game became loose and Noordheuwel used their backline speedsters to beat the scrambling Hilton defence and score a converted try. This closed the scoreline gap to 22-13, which was the halftime score.
Hilton started the second half on the attack and scored a converted try after repeated driving forward play on the Noordheuwel try line to increase their lead 29-13. Noordheuwel, not be outdone, played into the Hilton quarter and scored a converted try from a powerful driving maul to take the score to 29-20, which kept them in the hunt. Noordheuwel scored another converted try after they again overpowered the Hilton defence on their try line with sustained pressure play. With a 2-point scoreboard difference, Noordheuwel forced Hilton into their quarter with a good tactical line kick. However, Noordheuwel conceded a penalty which allowed Hilton to escape. Noordheuwel then kicked a long-range penalty to take a 30-29 lead with less than 5 minutes left to play. Hilton kicked a penalty soon thereafter to retake the lead at 32-30. Noordheuwel launched a final attack on the Hilton try line, however, the game clock caught up with them and Hilton won the match 32-30.
Boland Landbou 22-10 Grey High
The first 10 minutes of the half was an even-matched battle. Both teams used tactical kicks to try and gain territory. Boland then opened the scoring tally 05-00 with a try when they beat the Grey defence out wide. They scored another good try 8 minutes later when they again beat the Grey defence out wide with powerful and fast running, increasing their lead to 10-00. Grey tried to force Boland into their quarter, however, the Boland defence held up. Boland then played into the Grey quarter capitalising on penalties conceded by Grey. They scored another try after a powerful forward play from a penalty lineout to increase their lead to 15-00. Grey then inched their way into the Boland quarter using good driving mauls from consecutive penalty lineouts. They however could not convert their efforts into points. The halftime score was 15-00 in favour of Boland.
Boland scored a try within the first 3 minutes of the second half, after they drove the ball up to the Grey try line with strong forward play. They then quickly ran the ball wide to beat the Grey defence out wide. Boland now had a comfortable 22-00 lead. This lead was, however, short-lived as Grey managed to score a very good try after they, in turn, beat the Boland defence out wide with good passing interplay. This took the score to 22-05 with 20 minutes left to play. Both teams then attacked each other's quarter but were unable to score. With less than 3 minutes left to play, Grey relentlessly attacked the Boland try line and was rewarded with a try to take the score to 22-10, which was the final score.
Jeppe 27-17 Graeme College
Jeppe put the squeeze on Graeme College right from the start of the half. They used their heavier forwards to drive up the ball and to create space for the backs to attack the Grame College try line. However, the Graeme defence held up well. They, in turn, forced Jeppe into their quarter and on the defence. The match then settled into an arm wrestle in the midfield with the possession constantly changing hands. No team gave the other an inch to score points. Jeppe started to get more possession and looked threatening, however, some handling errors and the resolute Graeme defence prevented them from scoring. Graeme College eventually broke the scoreboard stalemate when they kicked a penalty in the 26th minute to take a 03-00 lead, which was the halftime score.
Jeppe drew first blood early in the second half when they scored a converted try to take a 07-03 lead. They followed it up with another try scored from the midfield after they beat the Graeme defence out wide with pace. This increased their lead to 14-03. Jeppe received a yellow card for charging down the ball whilst Graeme College attacked their try line. Graeme College then scored a converted try when they overpowered the Jeppe defence to take the score to 14-10. Jeppe forced them to concede a penalty soon thereafter, which they kicked to increase their lead to 17-10. Jeppe then again forced Graeme College into their quarter from where they scored a converted try under the posts after they charged down a kick. However, their 24-10 lead was short-lived as Graeme College responded by scoring a converted try when they sliced through the Jeppe defence out wide. This closed the scoreline gap to 24-17 with Graeme College very much back in the game. Jeppe kicked a penalty to increase their lead to 27-17 with 6 minutes left to play. Graeme College then relentlessly attacked the Jeppe try line. Jeppe received another yellow card for cynical play with less than 1 minute to play. Graeme College continued to attack, however, Jeppe turned over the ball from a strong scrum and won the match 27-17.
Nelspruit 12-08 St Benedict's College
St Benedict's started like a house on fire and crossed Nelspruits' tryline to lead 05-00 afer 5 minutes of play. The remainder of the match was even territorially as well as possession, with both sides failing to convert several promising scoring opportunities. st Bendeict's converted a penalty after 16 minutes of play to lead 08-00. Although Nelspruit set up camp in the 22m of St Bendedicts in the last five minutes of the match, they remained scoreless with St Benedict's leading 08-00 going into the second half.
Nelspruit opened their account after six minutes of play in the second half. Unfortunately thereafter the match continued in a similar manner as in the first half. Nelspruit took the lead after 17 minutes of play in the second half when they barged their way over the tryline of St Benedicts. In a very close battle, Nelspruit managed to keep St Benedicts from scoring during the last seconds of the match to win 12-08.
St Charles College 05-41 Pretoria Boys High
St Charles attacked from the start and scored the first try after six minutes of play to lead 05-00. Pretoria Boys High took control of the match after st Charles' first try and dominated the next ten minutes before they were rewrded for the dominance and led 07-05 with 13 minutes to go. Pretoria Boys High followed the first try with another as they are now in complete control of the match. Pretoria Boys High led 12-05 at the halftime break, however, St Charles was slowly clawing their way back into the match a threatened during the final 5 minutes.
Apart from the first few minutes of the second half Pretoria Boys High resumed their dominance. The resolute and sometimes desperate defence kept Pretoria Boys High from scoring several tries, however, after eighteen minutes of play Pretoria Boys High scored their third try to lead 19-05. Pretoria Boys High scored a further four tries to win 41-05 deservedly.
Maritzburgh College 50-05 Lions XV
It took Maritzburg College only one minute to open their account with a try under the sticks, which was unfortunately the first of six tries scored in the first half. Maritzburg College led 36-00 at the halftime break. The Lions XV looked a lot better in the second half and scored a great try, however, Maritzburg College did enough in the first half to win 50-05.
14:50 Nelspruit vs St Benedict's College
16:00 Jeppe Boys High vs Graem College
17:00 Grey High vs Boland Landbou
19:10 Hilton vs Noordheuwel
20:20 Welkom Gimnasium vs St John's
