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New South Wales Combined High Schools are having a dream tour in South Africa as they rise victorious against Hoërskool Noordheuwel on day 2 of the St John’s Easter Rugby Festival. Once again, the link up play between the forwards and backs of the Australian outfit made it impossible for the South African boys to keep up.

The physical presence of Noordheuwel wasn’t absent on the field but the fast tempo gameplay from NSW Combined High Schools got the better of the Krugersdorp boys. A 38-19 victory for NSW Combined High Schools left them with double the points and all the glory.

Helpmekaar Kollege also remained unbeaten after their second fixture this Easter but St Alban’s definitely put up a surprising and entertaining performance. Unfortunately for the gents from St Alban’s, it was the Christiaan Bezuidenhout-show as the Helpmekaar winger scored a hattrick.

Scorers:

In the first match on the second day of the Standard Bank Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival played in glorious autumn sunshine between Hoërskool Noord-Kaap and HTS Middelburg, both teams were keen to get their first win at the festival.

Noord-Kaap held a slender three-point lead at halftime, although they looked the more dangerous with ball in hand. Wing Jacquin van Wyk opened the scoring after just five minutes when he used his pace to round the defence scoring near the touchline. A great conversion by captain and fullback Elzandro Fredericks put them into a 7-0 lead.

This was held for most of the half until Middelburg capitalized on a handling mistake by Noord-Kaap. The ball passed through a few players before wing Quintino October scored under the uprights, giving Justin Botha an easy two-pointer and narrowing the gap to 7-10.

An entertaining second half saw a resurgent Middelburg come back and, with five tries scored in the second half, the appreciative crowd became increasingly vocal. Play swung from touch-line to touch-line with both sides giving their best.

Alec Vermaak scored and converted to put Middelburg 14-10 in front. Bradley Human replied for Noord-Kaap scoring wideout, changing the lead to 15-14.

JP Esterhuysen put HTS back in front with a good hard running try, converted by Vermaak, to make it 21-15.

Noord-Kaap did not stop trying and came back with a try by hooker Devin Steenkamp, converted by S Daniels, to end the exciting game 27-21 ahead.

Scorers: 

Noord-Kaap: Tries Van Wyk, Steenkamp, Human (2); Conversions: Fredericks, Daniels; Penalty: Fredericks
HTS Middelburg: Tries October, Vermaak, Esterhuysen; Conversions: Botha (2), Vermaak

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The Golden Lions Invitational XV recorded a 19-12 victory over St David’s Marist in the opening match of the second day of the St John’s College Easter Festival in Johannesburg.

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The opening day of the annual St Dunstan’s College Easter Festival belonged to Centurion’s outside centre, Christian Grobler. He was the star as Centurion walloped Hellenic Academy of Zimbabwe by 72-7. 

Grobler crossed the try line six times during the match. He completed a hat-trick in both halves and also converted five tries for a personal contribution of 40 points in the match.  

The hosts, St Dunstan’s College, suffered a heavy defeat of 0-46 against HerronBridge College in their opening match of the Easter Festival. 

De La Salle Holy Cross’ inside centre, Dante Zoghby, scored a hat-trick of tries as his side defeated HTS Tuine by 29-17.

 All of the matches are being streamed live by DigiTV.co.za. 

St Benedict’s College	17 (5)	Falcon College	15 (5)
Tries: Chileshe Mukuka, Joshua Oliveria, Jacques Theron. Conversion: Kieran du Boil.		Tries: Leon Misichili (2), Michael Muleya.
https://digitv.co.za/#/video/8205/9972/Vod
St John’s College (Harare)	36 (15)	Springs Boys’ High	28 (9)
Tries: Carl Kawodza, Gelan Jaricha, Declan Ralphs, Sam Harvey, Tadiwa Kadziyenyika. Conversions: Brendon Mason (4). Penalty: Mason.
https://digitv.co.za/#/video/8201/9968/Vod
Centurion	72 (41)	Hellenic Academy	7 (0)
Tries: Christian Grobler (6), J Vorster (2), Q van Zyl, Ryan Salomon, M van der Berg, Penalty. Conversions: Grobler (5).		Try: B Harwin. Conversion: B Pattenden.
https://digitv.co.za/#/video/8198/9964/Vod
De La Salle Holy Cross	29 (8)	HTS Tuine	17 (10)
Tries: Dante Zoghby (3), Tshiamo Mawer. Conversions: Michael Mulder (3). Penalty: Tawana Mafukidze.		Tries: Franco Nel (2), Terence Marais. Conversion: Jeandré Venter.
https://digitv.co.za/#/video/8196/9961/Vod
Reddam Bedfordview	33 (26)	Stanford Lake College	26 (19)
Tries: Dylan Butler, Thembisile Mabuza, Xavier Human, Matthew Collins, Connor van Heerden. Conversions: Scott Rennie (4).		Tries: Musa Mathebula (2), Ethan Chidavaenzi, Thomas Mayes. Conversions: Chidavaenzi (3).
https://digitv.co.za/#/video/8197/9963/Vod
HeronBridge College	46 (29)	St Dunstan’s College	0
Tries: Daniel Buys (2), Andani Siala, Malcolm Dzimati, Jarryd Deetlefs, Daniel Hayward, Nkateko Makhubele, Jonathan de Lima. Conversions: Chase Simpson (3).
https://digitv.co.za/#/video/8179/9943/Vod
St Benedict’s College II	14 (7)	St Peter College	10 (5)
Tries: Owami Luvuno, David Aniemeke. Conversions: Adriano Borges, Aniemeke.		Tries: Liam George, Josh van der Merwe.
https://digitv.co.za/#/video/8177/9942/Vod

The final game on the first day of the Kearsney College Easter Festival was between locals Durban High School and Hoërskool Transvalia, making their first visit to the festival.

It was a case of ‘if only’ for DHS who made too many mistakes and these were capitalised on by the boys from Vanderbijlpark.

Transvalia managed to score three tries in the first half. It took 19 minutes before the first points when flank Christiaan Burger dotted down.

Four minutes later lock Marno Swanepoel showing good skills went over and this time flyhalf Shaun Christie converted. He also converted the next try that was scored by lock Gareth Graham to take Transvalia into a 19-0 lead at the break.

From the kick-off flank, Brian Dosemba stormed 50m, breaking two tackles to open the scoring for DHS.

Transvalia, looking the more accomplished with ball in hand, scored again when prop Anrich Botes stormed over. This was followed a few minutes later as centre Ronan Elhers beat the defence to dot down, but neither was converted, leaving Transvalia 29-5 ahead.

With conditions becoming fairly dark, DHS handling seemed to improve. Transvalia had however added to their try tally when fullback Marnus Theunissen dotted down. With the scoreboard shining brightly, DHS centre Nhlakanipho Nene rounded the defence to score under the poles, converted by Ngobeni Dlamini for a final score of 12-34.

Scorers: 

Transvalia 34 (19) – Tries: Christiaan Burger, Ronan Ehlers, Marno Swanepoel, Anrich Botes, Gareth Graham, Marnus Theunissen. Conversions: Shaun Christie (2). Durban High School 12 (0) – Tries: Nhlakanipho Nene, Brian Dosemba. Conversions: Ngobeni Dlamini (2).

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Hoërskool Nelspruit opens their 15th visit to the St John’s Easter Rugby Festival against St David’s Marist from Sandton. Although this is considered home turf for St David’s, Nelspruit still is regarded as the favourites as they are one of the Pumas’ strongest sides.

The lads from Sandton gave it all they had and played good quality rugby at times, and even scored a converted try, but it wasn’t good enough to match the 25 points they conceded to Nelspruit.

Nelspruit opened the scoring with a try by their loosehead prop, Marthinus Celliers. A second try was scored in quick succession by centre Nico Liversage.

St David almost got a try themselves early in the first half but lock Philip-Maarten Pretorius made a try-saving turnover. Liversage added another three points for his side with a penalty.

Liversage scored his double and converted his own try. Nelspruit managed to get a 20-0 lead going into halftime.

St David’s entered the second half with a change of attitude and prevented Nelspruit from scoring several times. Although they have improved defensively, they were still struggling to get their attacking momentum going. After 12 minutes of hard grafting by St David’s, John-Kelly Okonkwo finally broke through the brutal Nelspruit defence to get his side on the board. The conversion was added by flyhalf, Leeam Van der Walt.

St David’s built momentum once again with a bouldering run by their try scorer, Okonkwo (#1). Pretorius (#5) made another try saving turnover for Nelspruit and ran almost 80m with the ball before kicking it as there was no support nearby.

Nelspruit scored their only try of the second half right as the hooter blasted through Devon Nell (#8). Although St David’s had a very promising second half, Nelspruit still managed to snatch a 25-7.

Hoërskool Nelspruit 25 (20) – Tries: Nico Liversage (2), Marthinus Celliers. Conversion: Liversage. Penalty: Liversage. St David’s Marist 7 (0) – Try: John-Kelly Okonkwo. Conversion: Leeam van der Walt.

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HTS Daniël Pienaar made a return to the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival sponsored by Standard Bank after having missed 2018. Upon their return, they were however left stunned, when St Charles College produced a sublime performance to welcome the Saints back with a well played 22-0 defeat.

St Charles College made it very difficult for the boys from Uitenhage from very early on in the clash when they defended very well and were always able to quickly pounce on the errors made by the Saints.

This saw St Charles College then score the first try, through Erich Ortmann, with Eyethu Majozi failing to add the extra 2 points. With the score at 5-0, Daniël Pienaar tried to get back into the game and level matters but that only exposed them even further in defence.

St Charles College capitalized on this, with outside centre Zukile Mbuli slicing through the Daniel Pienaar defence for a converted try. That was all the action in the half, with the sides going into the break with St Charles College enjoying a 12-0 advantage.

The second half saw HTS Daniël Pienaar come close to scoring on a few occasions but St Charles College was always able to clear their lines quite comfortable. The duel between the two remained very intense, with Daniël Pienaar looking desperate to claw their way back into the game but St Charles College was always up to the challenge.

The rest of the game did eventually see St Charles College cross the whitewash twice, through Simiso Ngubane and Scott Heygate.

Scorers: 

St Charles College 24 (12) – Tries: Erich Ortmann, Scott Heygate, Simiso Ngubane, Zukile Mbuli. Conversions: Eyethu Majozi, Steven Scott. HTS Daniël Pienaar 0.

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The encounter between Windhoek Gymnasium and Graeme College was one that was especially thrilling in the first half, where Windhoek enjoyed a slender 15-12 lead at the break, only to pull away in the second half ending up 37-24 victors on Burger field, at the St John’s College Easter Rugby Festival sponsored by Standard Bank.

The game got underway with both sides having shaky starts, with a lot of handling errors coming in the way of progressive attacking moves. Windhoek often looked to use their powerful forwards to breakdown the defence of their opponent, whilst Graeme College relied on keeping the ball in hand within their backs, that opted to run it and evade Windhoek defenders through the use of their fancy footwork.

Unfortunately, both teams found it difficult inside the first 10 mins of the game, to keep the moves flowing, with the ball in hand, with too many handling errors coming in the way. Windhoek was however the first team to get on the scoreboard, with Graeme keeping within touching distance. At the end, it was Windhoek who enjoyed a slim 15-12 lead at the interval.

When play resumed for the second half, Windhoek came out a different outfit, with their forwards bulldozing their way over a number of times. Flanker Jaco Enslin was the standout of the lot, crashing over twice, on both occasions making powerful runs through a few defenders.

Herschell van Wyk was also threatening on a number of Windhoek attacks, with the Graeme College players showing signs of fatigue late in the half. Graeme flyhalf Lakhanya Sam was the standout for the boys from the Eastern Cape, who really dipped in form in the second half, and eventually went down 37-24.

Scorers: 

Windhoek Gimnasium 37 (15) – Tries: Jaco Enslin (2), Altus Opperman, Herschell van Wyk, Mell Theunissen, Wian Loubser. Conversions: Cornez Liebenberg (2). Penalty: Liebenberg. Graeme College 24 (12) – Tries: Yanga Bangisa (2), Buhlebethu Planga, Thuso Mokhele. Conversions: Lakhanya Sam (2). 

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In a hard-fought physical encounter between Glenwood and Dr EG Jansen, back after missing last year, the game was on a knife edge for the last quarter. Glenwood went into a slender one-point lead for a brief period before EG Jansen snatched it back. Glenwood did not give up and scored in the final seconds to win the nail-biter.

The first half was just three minutes old when EG Jansen centre Duane Bloem burst through to score and, with a good conversion by Kyle Potgieter, saw the visitors from Boksburg 7-0 in front.

They extended their lead midway through the half when flyhalf Potgieter saw the defence open in front of him, allowing a dot down under the uprights for an easy conversion and a 14-0 lead.

Glenwood did not lie down and came back to score in the last seconds of the half, when centre Lehlohonolo Litabe dived over, converted by Jordan Hendrikse, for a 7-14 score at half time.

The game was played at a fast pace, and the tackles were ferocious, which led to handling mistakes by both sides. A kick ahead by EG Jansen, a mistake in the defence in the red zone and prop forward Branden Pienaar stormed over for a try. The conversion was surprisingly missed but EG Jansen was 19-7 up.

Glenwood moved the ball through a number of hands; and it was centre Martino van Wyk who managed to get over the line, converted by Hendrikse, who added a penalty shortly after Glenwood to trail by just two points at 17-19.

A long 40m penalty by Hendrikse put Glenwood into a 20-19 lead with five minutes remaining.

EG Jansen came storming back when hooker Kyle Pepler ran 40m down the touchline to score a converted try in the corner, and with that, the lead changed back to EG Jansen 26-20.

Glenwood was determined and with time up on the clock they fed the ball left and Steven Gibb went over in the corner. Hendrickse needed to thread the needle from the touchline, and this he did to give Glenwood a 27-26 win in an outstandingly exciting finish.

Scorers: 

Glenwood 27 () – Tries: Martino van Wyk, Litabe, Steven Gibb. Conversions: Jordan Hendrickse (3). Penalties: Hendrikse (2). EG Jansen 26 () – Tries: Kyle Potgieter, Branden Pienaar, Duane Bloem, Kyle Pepler. Conversions: Potgieter (3).

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An evenly matched first half saw HTS Drostdy from Worcester scoring just before half-time for a 19-14 lead. The two sides had each scored twice before the try that gave Drostdy the lead.

Fullback Keane Galant had shown a clean pair of heels in scoring two tries, both converted by Carlton Pietersen. HTS Middelburg’s first try went to hooker Rivaldo de Kock following a rolling maul. The second went to centre Christiaan Vlok with an intercept in the Drostdy 22m area. Both were converted by flyhalf Alec Vermaak.

Drostdy took the lead when flank Wynand du Plessis burst through the defence to dive over for an unconverted try and a 19-14 lead.

The second half saw no further points as the two competitive sides made every attempt to score but good defence prevented them doing so, leaving the final score 19-14 to HTS Drostdy.

Scorers: 

HTS Drostdy 19 () – Tries: Keane Galant (2), Du Plessis. Conversions: Carlton Pietersen (2). HTS Middelburg 14 () – Tries: Christiaan Vlok, Rivaldo de Kock. Conversions: Alec Vermaak (2).

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