Weekend of major upsets
IT WAS a glum weekend for some of Gauteng’s top rugby schools as Parktown Boys’ High, Monument High and Afrikaans High suffered defeat.
Parktown Boys’ were demolished 54-0 by Northwood School, while Waterkloof High School survived a late Monnas fightback to hold out for a 21-28 victory over their crossjukskei rivals.
Affies went down 35-31 to Westville Boys’ High School in arguably the upset of the year, handing Westville their first-ever victory over the historically dominant Affies side.
Parktown Boys’ made their way down to the South Coast for their annual fixture against Northwood, but the 2019 bout is one Parktown would want to forget about quickly.
Parktown had no reply for the onslaught, as Northwood dominated all the areas of play, to walk away deserved 54-0 victors. It is a tough road ahead for coach Andrew van Zyl and his men who are looking to get their season back on track when they next host St David’s Marist. Waterkloof repeated their heroics of the 2018 season, resisting a second-half Monnas comeback to clinch the Virseker Cup encounter 21-28 in Krugersdorp.
Waterkloof raced to an early 23-7 lead going into the break, but it was the valiant defensive effort of the Waterkloof lads in the second half that got them over the line.
Monument will continue their efforts to reclaim the Virseker Cup when they travel to Garsfontein High School today, while Waterkloof tackles Menlopark High School at home.
Affies and Westville clashed for the fourth time in their history, making this maiden Westville victory even more legendary. It was a close encounter in the early stages of the contest with Affies taking a slender 12-7 lead at the halftime interval, with either side looking to take this one.
Affies scored 19 unanswered points – including a Bjorn van Wyk hat trick – in the second half to race away to a 31-7 lead, seemingly ending the contest right there, but the Westville boys had other ideas.
Westville bravely clawed their way back, stunning the home audience as they scored 28 points on their way to this famous 35-31 victory.
It has been a tough couple of weeks for Affies who have only managed one victory in their last five encounters, and it only gets tougher as they face top ranked Grey College next.
It was not all doom and gloom for the Gauteng schools this weekend, as King Edward VII School stretched their impressive winning streak to five INSIDE centre Joseph Iye looking for support runners in the KES versus St Stithians match. matches when they overcame St Stithians College 31-54 in Randburg.
Saints led 17-14 at half-time, but the KES side was always going to be too strong for them, outscoring their opponents eight tries to five including a brace from KES wing Ethan Fisher.
KES had no issue on the offensive front, breaking the 40-point mark for the fourth time out of their last five matches but have looked vulnerable defensively, averaging 24 points conceded per match in that same time period.