Festive wins for Kearsney, Glenwood
AFTER heavy overnight rain and a chilly start to the second day of the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival, the clear day produced some fast-paced rugby with dramatic finishes.
Four schools go unbeaten into the final day: Selborne, Drostdy, Glenwood and Monument.
In an exciting game which went down to the wire, HTS Drostdy from Worcester emerged victors against Dale College.
From a 19-0 halftime lead in favour of Drostdy, Dale made a great comeback in the second half with a 25-19 lead at almost fulltime. But on the final whistle, Drostdy broke and evaded the defence to score a converted try and snatch victory 26-25.
The Kearsney-framesby clash was a match between two sides who lost on Thursday, but it did not reach the height of other games.
The hosts dominated the forward exchanges whilst Framesby had to feed off scraps. The ball seldom went out to the wings, making it easier for Kearsney to defend and the hosts won 23-0.
Glenwood attacked from the kick-off, maintaining early pressure on EG Jansen, but couldn’t convert pressure into points and were down 12-0 at halftime. After changing tactics in the second half, they moved the ball quickly, handling well and running at the EG Jansen defence. The final eight minutes were spent in the Glenwood half. EG Jansen came close to improving their points but a knock-on prevented a try; with the eventual 24-19 score in favour of the KZN team.
Both Höerskool Noord-kaap and Queen’s College came out keen for a win, having narrowly lost on Thursday.
The two sets of big forwards were evenly matched but as the half progressed, so Noordkaap began winning a greater share of the ball. Noord-kaap won 31-14 but Queen’s showed determination, coming back strongly in the second half.
Selborne College were kept at bay by Pretoria Boys High for the first 10 minutes and the latter missed a relatively easy penalty to go ahead.
This galvanised Selborne and they starved PBHS of possession, illustrating with this huge 58-5 win that they will be difficult to beat in the forthcoming season.
The final day tomorrow kicks off at 9.30am. Gate entrance is R20 per person with ample secure parking. Food and refreshment outlets will be available for those wanting to enjoy a day of entertaining rugby. Tomorrow 9.30am: HTS Drostdy v Pretoria Boys High 10.45am: Hoërskool Framesby v Dr EG Jansen 12 noon: Middelburg v Dale College 1.15pm: Glenwood v Hoërskool Noord-kaap 2.30pm: Selborne College v Hoërskool Monument 3.45pm: Kearsney College v Queen’s College