KwaZulu-Natal schoolboy rugby roared into life over the weekend delivering plenty of talking points across the province.
The headline act belonged to Westville, who stole the show with a statement 26-10 victory over Maritzburg College.
But it was at a cold, wet and miserable Baileys where the weekend’s most absorbing contest unfolded, as Michaelhouse ground out a hard-fought 28-14 victory over Northwood in conditions that tested character as much as skill.
The match kicked off with ferocious intensity as Laird Hamilton-Brown chased down the kick-off and forced Northwood into an immediate error. The visitors stood firm defensively in the early exchanges, but House gradually imposed themselves.
“Our structure held firm in the difficult conditions. We managed to secure solid front-foot ball from the set pieces, allowing the backline to create some promising attacking phases,” said Marco Engelbrecht, Michaelhouse 1st XV head coach.
The breakthrough arrived in the 11th minute when Reece Cole crossed the whitewash, with Alex Jankowitz adding the extras. Despite creating several more opportunities before the interval, House couldn’t capitalise on their territorial advantage, taking a slender 7-0 lead into the sheds.
The second stanza saw Michaelhouse come out with renewed purpose, mounting sustained pressure and milking penalties to stretch their advantage. The momentum shift proved decisive when captain Nicola Salamousas executed a brilliant pick-and-go to crash over the line.
The floodgates threatened to open as James Mallet sniped smartly through the ruck defence on Northwood’s tryline to dot down right under the posts, extending the cushion to what looked a comfortable margin.
But Northwood refused to fold, showing real fight in the closing stages.
“Our squad showed immense character and fitness to weather the storm. An ambitious attempt to run the ball out of our own 22-metre line resulted in a costly interception. Northwood capitalised on the mistake, gaining some late confidence and bringing the final score to 28-14,” Engelbrecht said.
Elsewhere across the province, St Charles flexed their muscles with a comprehensive 38-7 demolition of Clifton, whilst Kearsney edged out Glenwood 18-10 in the mists of Botha’s Hill.
“The Kearsney boys played very well. Credit to them.
I was happy with our boys as well. We cut our penalties conceded down by half from Northwood game and we cut missed tackles down from over 20 against Northwood to under 10 against Kearsney.
I thought Kearsney managed the weather conditions a little better than we did. So we going to learn a lot from this fixture. But overall I’m happy with the growth from the Northwood game,” said Justin Hollis, director of rugby for Glenwood.
