Grey fight back to edge Boland at Cape Schools Week

TRAILING 17-6 with 17 minutes remaining, Grey High produced a courageous fightback to shade the tough Boland Agricultural rugby team 18-17 on the opening day of the Cape Schools Week at Rondebosch in Cape Town on Saturday.

Eastern Province’s other representatives at the tournament, Muir College, had a difficult first encounter against the impressive Stellenberg outfit and went down 40-10.

After being behind for most of the game, Grey produced a strong final quarter as they scored two tries, the second of which was converted by flyhalf LJ du Preez, to overhaul the Boland score. They then stayed in control until the end.

The first score came from fullback Sihle Njezula in the 43rd minute, after some good handling by the backs created an opening in the righthand corner to reduce the deficit to 17-11.

Although Du Preez missed that conversion, his next attempt, also from near the touchline, proved crucial as it gave Grey the lead for the first time in the match.

It came after a strong maul from lineout five metres out saw hooker Corne Slabbert bash his way over for what turned out to be the match-winning try.

Du Preez also slotted two penalties in the first half while Boland’s tries came from Luther McKay and Armand Adendorff.

Scrumhalf Gavin Mills added the conversions and also kicked a penalty for Boland’s only points in the second half.

Despite being on the losing end, Muir produced a spirited effort against Stellenberg and were awarded with tries by Ethan Barry and Sicelo Tole in the second half.

Although the Uitenhage side also had their chances in the first half, they failed to seize the moment and it was Stellenberg who took control with some hard running to cross for four tries.

Fullback Ryan Brown added the conversions to make it 28-0 at the break.

They stretched that to 35-0 with their fifth try, but Muir showed their fighting qualities by matching their opponents for much of the second period.

That eventually had its rewards as Barry and Tole showed speed and power to score in the lefthand corner, adding some respectability to the final scoreline.

The opening day’s results were: Grey High bt Boland Agricultural 18-17, Queen’s bt Wynberg 24-22, Stellenberg bt Muir 40-10, SACS bt Selborne 17-13, Dale drew with Rondebosch 27-27.

Monday’s fixtures are: Boland Agric v Muir, SACS v Grey High, Rondebosch v Queen’s Stellenberg v Dale, Wynberg v Selborne.