Rugby festival proves tough

Hudson bag win as Queen’s, Selborne taste defeat in Gqeberha

Hudson Park shrugged off several unforced errors to start the Standard Bank Grey High Rugby Festival on a high note with a 28-3 win over Despatch at the Pollock Oval in Gqeberha on Thursday.

There was not as much joy for the other Border schools, with Queen’s going down agonisingly in the last minute 22-20 to Westville and Selborne being outclassed by the Outeniqua outfit 40-7.

Hudson coach Lonwabo Ntleki was happy with the start, while acknowledging that they would have to improve for a big clash against Brandwag on Saturday.

“I think the guys were a little bit over-eager at times and this led to quite a few mistakes.

“But once they settled down and showed better concentration, they were able to get on top. It was a very good start for us and we are ready to embrace the challenge we will face against Brandwag.”

Queen’s, meanwhile, were unlucky to lose to Westville in the opening match on the Philip Field, being undone by a try in the final minute to go down 2220. It was a game in which neither side were able to stamp their dominance on proceedings and though Queen’s ran in three good tries, the Durban outfit were able to counter that each time.

In the first half, Lesego Bota crossed for a fine try after a good backline move created space and Aluve Stemela added a second, which Bota converted.

But Westville hit back twice with tries and the teams went into the halftime break deadlocked at 12-12.

The see-saw battle continued in the second half as Bota slotted a penalty, only for Westville No 8 Avethandwa Tukwayo to power over from close range for their third try to put his team 17-15 in the lead.

Queen’s stormed back onto the attack and Sisipho Mpaka scored in the righthand corner to regain the initiative, but Westville were not done.

Some good work by their forwards and backs saw them work their way back into the Queen’s 22m area and a series of penalties close to the line eventually resulted in big lock Ockert Schonken barging over to take the score to 22-20.

Though the conversion failed, the final whistle went before Queen’s could kick off again to deny them a final chance at glory.

Selborne held their own against the strong George team for much of the first half, but came under pressure as Outeniqua upped the pace with direct running at their opponents’ defence.

Eventually, the dam wall broke and centre Tony Bruiners was first to score when he sliced through for a superb try.

Outeniqua’s ability to create chances was revealed with an excellent score by scrumhalf Jamil Pretorius and hooker Riaan Swart made it 21-0 at the break when he powered over under the posts.

In the second half, the George team were awarded a penalty try and crossed again through flank Dewald Gerber before Selborne finally had some joy when they attacked near their opponents’ line.

Jordan Luck was able to force his way over and Kyle van Wyk added the conversion to make it 33-7.

But Outeniqua were not finished and yet another attacking move ended in their sixth and final try to secure a well-deserved 40-7 win.

On Saturday, Hudson Park made it two out of two when they downed Brandwag 26-10 and Selborne eked out a narrow 19-18 win over Framesby.

Queen’s went down 15-14 to SACS. Hosts Grey beat KES 22-15, Muir College beat Parktown 19-15, Jeppe were 15-13 winners over Rondebosch, Bishops beat Outeniqua 31-20.

On the opening day of the festival, Hudson Park U14A beat Despatch 58-0, Hudson’s u16A went down 3410 to Rondebosch and their u15A side lost 20-0 to Westville.

On Saturday, Hudson’s u14A were shaded 20-19 by Framesby, their U16A beat Framesby 14-3 and their U15A team lost 30-12 to Nico Malan.