Maritzburg College vs St Charles College
Maritzburg College welcomed their Pietermaritzburg rivals, St Charles College, to Goldstone’s on Saturday, feeling confident despite being beaten twice at the Absa Wildeklawer Rugby Tournament. They had good reason to feel ready to face the challenge.
In Kimberley, College stretched Stellenberg High – already winners over Paarl Gimnasium, Grey College, and Paul Roos Gimnasium this year – going down 19-24, but showing the diehard blue collar attitude and spirit that are hallmarks of College’s better sides. They also fell to Outeniqua, another school that is enjoying a strong season, beaten 30-29 by a last-kick-of-the-game penalty.
In those games, the Red, Black, and White had demonstrated that they’re a top-tier team. Saints, meanwhile, had been in action at the Standard Bank Grey High Rugby Festival over the same weekend. They also returned a record of two matches and two losses, but there were some good things to take out of their games – primarily their ability to conjure up exciting tries.
Kingswood beat St Charles 22-19 in the Pietermaritzburg boys’ first outing, then Graeme College, clearly one of the better teams in the Eastern Cape in 2026, rolled to a 43-17 win.
Perhaps it was the heavier challenge that College had faced in Kimberley that was the difference in Saturday’s contest. Nonetheless, they did what was expected and delivered a comfortable 45-5 victory, scoring seven tries to one.
Something that opposition teams have learned against Maritzburg College is that conceding a try usually means surrendering seven points, with scrumhalf Dom du Toit one of the deadliest kickers in the game. He slotted five conversions in succession before missing his last two.
The highlight of the clash, arguably, belonged to Saints, though. Their lone try was memorable.
It began from a scrum midway into their 22, on the left of the field. Scrumhalf Agape Nyawo fed the ball down the backline. When it reached outside centre, Njabulo Nala, he angled a deft kick pass out wide to Raheem Wheatley. Challenged by a defender, he chipped over the top. The bounce of the ball beat the right wing and a covering College defender, but St Charles’ fullback PJ Dlamini sped onto the ball and jetted away to score in the right-hand corner.
It was unorthodox, exciting, yet not unexpected from coach Craig Dwyer‘s boys. They’re not afraid to express themselves.
College, though, had too much in the tank for St Charles. Their approach was more orthodox, made good use of their forwards, and brought plentiful rewards.
Tighthead prop Alanda Ngubane got the scoreboard moving in the seventh minute, bashing and cork-screwing his way over to give his side the lead. His powerful runs remind one of former College captain and front-ranker, Phiwayinkosi “Rambo” Khubeka, who is currently doing duty for South Africa in the U20 Rugby Championship.
College’s next try was a long-range effort that began midway between their 10-metre line and halfway. Flyhalf Liyema Tsoka made the all-important break by selling a dummy, which left the Saints’ defence at sixes and sevens, and that soon meant it was seven for the hosts, with Theo Boshoff barrelling over. That was the first of four tries on a magical day for the powerful hooker.
After St Charles had pulled it back to 5-14, Maritzburg College responded on the half-hour, with Boshoff crashing over from a well-executed rolling maul.
Before halftime, College had another try – wash, rinse, repeat – with Boshoff coming up beaming after following his pack over the whitewash. That made it 28-5 at the break.
St Charles, to their credit, kept testing College, but the Red, Black, and White held the edge, and they added another Boshoff try in the 44th minute before Caleb Scheepers finished a fantastic counterattack to extend the advantage to 35 points.
The right wing completed the scoring five minutes before the end of the contest, benefitting from a quick tap and an overlap to trot over in the corner again.
Westville Boys’ High vs Kearsney College
There would have been very few takers if it were suggested that Westville Boys’ High and Kearsney College would share a low-scoring draw on Bowden’s Field on Saturday. That was an unlikely outcome, with two of the slickest and most creative backlines in the game taking to the field. Yet, it ended only 14-14.
As always, Bowden’s was bouncing with energy. Unusually, though, the output on the field failed to match the enthusiasm alongside it.
While the output wasn’t great, the opening try was. It went Kearsney’s way.
After securing a 22-metre drop out, the One-Stripe were twice driven way back as they attempted to move the ball down their backline, with players hit by double-tackles. Kearsney recycled the ball, though, and a long, flat pass from Lwazi Mbebe put Tom Aylward into space, around halfway, on the left.
He made it deep into Westville’s 22 with a cunning show-and-go before finding Luke Grobbelaar on his inside. The right wing was scragged but not held, and he scrambled back to his feet before diving over the try line.
From the touchline, Dan Miskey nailed the conversion attempt to make it 7-0 to the visitors.
Just before the half-hour, Kearsney left-wing, Lwandle Mkhize, was almost over from long-range, but Bukho Sotaka brought him down only metres from the try line.
From there, the One-Stripe attacked from a penalty, but Westville centre Jadrian Afrikaner read their backline move and intercepted to race away and strike from 95 metres out. The conversion from directly in front was no problem for Jade-Will Koopman.
Having, at last, got themselves onto the scoreboard, Westville struck quickly again, with their second try coming before halftime.
It began when Kearsney fullback Lwazi Mbebe made a bit of a hash of a clearance kick. But he recovered well and left defenders grasping at a ghost as he weaved through them, making 15 metres up the field. He, however, had his pocket picked by Avu Lisa, who snatched the ball out of Mbebe’s grasp and set off in the opposite direction. Blessed with searing pace, he showed Kearsney a clean pair of heels and was over beneath the uprights.
Another Jade-Will Koopman conversion made it 14-7 to the Griffins at the break.
The second half produced only one scoring sequence, and it came from Kearsney. This time, the route across the try line was more conventional. It began with a Kearsney throw-in on the Westville 22.
A powerful drive from the visiting pack quickly gained them eight metres. From there, it took only two thrusts around the maul, and the One-Stripe had their second. As so many good things do, it began with their dynamic 8th-man and captain, Nhlanhla Ndlovu, slicing through the hosts’ defence. Then, when he was brought down, flank James Whatmore was the first to the ball. He picked up and drove towards the line. With support arriving and giving him a boost from behind, he powered over for five.
Miskey slotted the all-important conversion kick, 15 metres in from the right touchline, and it was 14-14.
Another 22 minutes failed to separate the sides. Westville had a chance to win it on the final whistle, but Koopman, uncharacteristically, sliced a kick he would have expected to make. That, perhaps, would have been a little unkind to Kearsney, and a draw was a fair reflection of the game.
Scorers
Maritzburg College 45 (28) – Tries: Theo Boshoff 94), Caleb Scheepers (2), Alande Ngubane. Conversions: Dom du Toit (5).
St Charles College 5 (5) – Try: PJ Dlamini.
Westville 14 (14) – Tries: Jadrian Afrikaner, Avu Lisa. Conversions: Jade-Will Koopman (2).
Kearsney 14 (7) – Tries: Luke Grobbelaar, James Whatmore. Conversions: Daniel Miskey (2).
