Ithembe take control to beat Mary Waters

Ithembelihle overcame a number of errors to finally take control of their schools rugby match against Mary Waters at the annual Kirkwood Festival, running out 19-0 winners.

Both sides made mistakes and this was demonstrated when Ithembe pinned their opponents down in their half, only for prop Beast Booi to knock the ball on close to their line.

The Mary Waters scrum was often under pressure and eventually this forward superiority took its toll when Ithembe attacked from a line-out close to the line and No 8 Bonga Zitshu crashed over to make it 5-0. Scrumhalf Mimi Gwintsa missed the conversion.

Mary Waters came back into the game with some clever kicking to pin Ithembe in their own half.

However, when they counterattacked from one kick, wing Siya Davids thought he was through, only to lose the ball. He put in another powerful run shortly after that.

With Booi and hooker Banele Sadini prominent in carrying the ball, Ithembe missed another chance when Zitshu knocked the ball on.

However, Ithembe improved in the second half as live wire lock Khanyisa Mangxale controlled the lineouts and put in some good runs.

Ithembe increased their lead when a Mary Waters backline mistake saw them turn over possession for centre Lubabalo Bekeweni to kick the ball ahead and it bounced perfectly for him to score next to the poles. Gwintsa added the conversion to make it 12-0.

As Ithembe took control only desperate defence kept them out, but Mary Waters were not scared to run the ball back at their opponents and it took some good scrambling defence to stop them from scoring.

From a mistake on Mary Waters’ try line, Ithembe were awarded a scrum and Zitshu broke strongly for big prop Beast Booi to crash over for a try converted by Gwintsa.

Coach Theo Pieterse was pleased with the result but knows much work lies ahead.

“We have a lot of work to do before we tackle live wire side Bergsig on Saturday,” he said.

“I would also like to say thank you to Tavcor PE for generously supplying us with transport to our games.”