Michaelhouse winter sports round up
The boys from Balowan disembarked at Botha’s Hill champing at the bit after more than 23 months without a full set of winter sports fixtures! And while Covid’s presence didn’t go unfelt in the absence of stands full of partisan support and the last minute cancellation of the first XI hockey fixture between Michaelhouse and Kearsney College, both schools relished the opportunity to contest ten hockey and 17 rugby fixtures.
Where House can confidently lay claim to having enjoyed the ascendency in the open age group hockey games, winning the second and drawing the third and fourth XI clashes, the hosts held the upper hand in the U16 category, winning three form four including a dominant 5-0 win in the U16A game. The spoils were shared in the U14s, with a win, a draw and a loss apiece, but with Kearsney earning a solid 6-1 victory in the A side encounter.
Things were not as equitable on the rugby park. It was one-way traffic in the opens, with the seventh, sixth, and fifth XVs all notching up big wins for Michaelhouse. Coming off back to back wins in 2018 and 2019 and with plenty to prove in the context of the day, Kearsney’s firsts charged onto the pitch for the seventy-sixth clash between the two schools. From the kick-off Kearsney looked as though they might counter the day’s formbook, keeping the visitors guessing through enterprising interplay between backs and forwards and playing from depth, thwarting House’s linespeed and quickly tearing into a domineering 17-0 lead. Michaelhouse then scored out wide on the stroke of the interval through winger Ayabonga Zakwe and immediately after the break through fullback and captain, Alexander Vermeulen, to bring themselves back with range on 12-17. Loose forward and vice-captain Jaden van der Merwe was a major factor in the set pieces and stamped his mark on the collective second half offensive effort. Recently repurposed scrumhalf, Joe Price capped off an influential performance with a brace of tries, both converted by Vermeulen to wrap up the comeback. Kearsney’s consolation try late in the day allowed an honest reflection of the encounter in the record books, a 26-24 win to Michaelhouse.