Graeme finally turn tables on Queen’s record

GRAEME College ended a lengthy wait of more than 40 years to register a rugby win over Queen’s when they won their first team clash 18-11 in Grahamstown on Saturday.

There are not many rugby fixtures tougher than playing Queen’s – and Graeme have had to wait since 1975 to record their fifth win over their highly respected opponents.

The schools have recently re-established the fixture on a permanent basis, and this was the 25th occasion that they met.

The Graeme side managed to turn around a hard rugby lesson in Queenstown last year, producing some fine rugby this season.

Graeme also tried to close the gap between the hockey sides, but Queen’s were too good for the first team, winning 4-0 on Friday.

The Graeme side, who have worked hard this year, were not up for the contest and the visitors won without being pushed too hard.

A well-organised Queen’s side were gifted some soft goals by Graeme, who were uncharacteristically poor in defence.

The junior school shared some of the spoils with Westering, but the visitors would have been very happy with the results at the end of the day.

The Queen’s sides also made most of the day tough for Graeme, with only the home U16B side holding on for a draw in the age-group matches.

It was only when the unbeaten second XV played some excellent rugby again that Graeme achieved a win, with a scoreline of 35-17.

The first-team clash was highly anticipated and lived up to expectations.

Graeme started the match in perfect fashion and were 10-0 up in no time.

Queen’s fought back to trail 10-8, with the match very much in the balance throughout.

Graeme then scored a second try and kicked a penalty to take their tally up to 18, while Queen’s also goaled a penalty.

It was a day where Graeme never seemed to hit their straps on attack and, as previously shown this year, they made errors throughout the game.

However, they more than made up for this in their determination to win, especially in defence.

This was evident as they defended on their own try-line for the last 10 minutes of the match, including a period where they had a man in the sin bin, to see out a deserved victory.