Grey High’s late surge in vain against St Andrew’s
ST ANDREW’S defeated Port Elizabeth archrivals Grey High for the second successive year when they withstood a late onslaught to win their schools rugby match 24-21 in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
It was a hard-earned victory by the visitors, who made most of the play in the second half, with Anthony More running in a brilliant try to overturn a 16-7 halftime deficit, into a victory St Andrew’s will cherish.
In truth, though, neither side can feel too happy with their efforts because it was an encounter littered with basic errors, particularly in the first half.
This robbed the match of any flow or rhythm, but full credit must go to St Andrew’s for the way their defence stood up to Grey’s attacks in the second half .
With the home side not accurate enough at the breakdown, the Grahamstown lads were often able to turn the ball over, resulting in penalties which blunted Grey’s efforts to close the gap.
The match turned in the space of eight minutes in the second half, when St Andrew’s ran in two converted tries and later added a penalty to transform the halftime deficit into a 24-16 lead.
Firstly, flank Alex Menage barged over after a clever kick ahead exposed the Grey defence before More scored arguably the try of the match.
A set move from a scrum saw the St Andrew’s backline completely bamboozle the Grey defence, for More to cut through for a gem of a try.
Grey kept fighting to the end and with less than two minutes remaining, centre Marc Michau closed the gap to three points.
There was just enough time for the kickoff, but St Andrew’s were able to snuff out one final attack to seal the win.
In the first half, More scored his first try when he latched onto a wild pass well inside his half to outsprint the defence for the line.
Grey’s first-half try came after some clever play by flyhalf Runaldo Pedro, who created space on the left flank and then took the final pass for a try near the posts.
Pedro also kicked two penalties and a conversion before having to leave the field with a leg injury. Substitute Antonio May added a third penalty.
For St Andrew’s, flyhalf Murray Wilson showed fine accuracy with the boot, kicking three conversions and a penalty.
Framesby v Brandwag
Framesby continued their fine season at their home ground in Port Elizabeth on Saturday afternoon by beating Brandwag 41-22. The winning side was leading 24-14 at half time and in the end, scored six tries against the three from the visitors from Uitenhage.
Shortly before the break there was a difference of only three points, but Brandwag made life difficult for themselves with a lot of unforced mistakes.
They were keen to give the ball some air but were blowing hot and cold, while Framesby made fewer mistakes and took their chances better.
In the backline, Andre Gerber (scrumhalf) and Grayson Ditlow (centre) were the stars for Framesby.
For Brandwag, right wing Octavian Muller was always dangerous on attack and scored two tries. De Wet Alberts (flanker) scored the other try of the Uitenhage outfit with flyhalf Dano Swart adding two conversions and a penalty.
Gerber, Ditlow, Monray Potgieter (centre), Rikus Smith (tighthead prop), Ruan du Preez (flanker) and De Wet Erasmus (no 8) were the Framesby try-scorers. Juandre Liebenberg (flyhalf) slotted a penalty and four conversions.
Other results: Dale 41 Grens 19 Union High 20 Westering 27 Selborne 78 Cambridge 20 Marlow 37 Queens 31 Nico Malan 18 Graeme 22 Despatch 15 Daniel Pienaar 14 Kingswood 73 Ithembelihle 5 Woodridge 7 Cillie 5 VP 14 DF Malherbe 22