Determined Wynberg fight back to beat Grey at home
A VISITING Wynberg side dug deep to turn around a six-point deficit in the first half for a deserved 36-33 victory in a well-contested schools rugby fixture against Grey High on the Philip field in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Trailing 21-15 at the break, the match turned in the first six minutes of the second half when the Cape Town side ran in two tries to leapfrog the home team.
With Devan Pretorius showing deadly accuracy with the boot, it put them 29-21 ahead and from there, with a stiff breeze at their backs, they showed fine acumen to maintain that advantage until the end.
Centre Liyema Matyolweni and flyhalf LJ du Preez showed Grey’s ability to exploit any gaps in Wynberg High’s defence to keep their side in touch with second half tries.
With each side scoring five tries, Pretorius’s accurate boot eventually made the difference, as he slotted four conversions and a penalty.
Grey High were first to score, in the fifth minute, when Marc Michau cut through to score under the poles.
Grey added two more tries, but Wynberg High showed they could be equally effective on attack.
Hooker Jason Alexander crossed first from a lineout drive.
Then, in the 25th minute, Alexander burst through the defence to set up a try for Wandile Notshe.
Wynberg’s points came from tries by Alexander, Notshe, Pretorius, Rethabie Louw and Reece Brice.
Pretorius added four conversions and a penalty.
Grey scored through Michau, Ryan Adams, Enrique Franks, Matyolweni and Du Preez, with Du Preez nailing four conversions.
Framesby v Boland Agricultural
HOST Framesby were always in control of the match when they beat Boland Agricultural 34-20, leading 17-6 at the break on Saturday.
From the kickoff, it was clear the Port Elizabeth school’s players had more firepower – and they dominated more than the scoreline suggests.
They took the foot off the accelerator at times, but still won comfortably by scoring four tries to two.
The visitors never really got going and put themselves under pressure by handling the kickoffs poorly and giving Framesby many attacking opportunities on a plate.
Framesby put the Boland side under pressure in the scrums, with tight head prop Ruan Smith leading the way.
Their loose head prop, William Moffett, also caught the eye.
At flyhalf, Juandré Liebenberg had his best match of the season, and contributed 19 points.
Liebenberg also scored a try and added four conversions and two penalties for Framesby.
Smith, lock Barry Vlok and winger Bessie Brandt scored the other tries.
No 8 JW Snyman and replacement centre Erik Lambrecht scored for Boland Agricultural.
Fullback Darren Hendricks hit in two conversions and two penalties.
The weekend’s results are: