THE Grey High boys very nearly won another national U/17 Sevens Rugby title for Eastern Province.
Earlier this year, the EP team won the provincial tournament in George and this past Saturday, Grey just missed out on winning the Frogfoot national Champions Cup in Pretoria.
Grey qualified for Saturday’s final tournament after winning the first regional event earlier this year at home.
It was an absolute heartbreak for Grey in the final at Loftus. They came so close to winning the Cup but the Mpumalanga champions, Secunda, managed to hang on to win 17-14.
This was a real nail biter and a very physical affair. The two sides were evenly matched and the result was always in the balance. Grey scored first but Secunda hit back with two tries, the second just before half-time, and was leading 12-7 at the break.
Secunda again scored early in the second half to lead 17-7. Trailing by 10 points, Grey was under huge pressure but fought back with a brilliant try. Unfortunately, they could not get another to clinch the title.
Although it was disappointing for the Grey players and their supporters not to win the title, they can be very proud of their effort to get to the final.
Grey had to play five matches on a very hot Pretoria day. They opened proceedings with the very first match against Robertson at seven o’clock. There were some tough matches on the way to the final, which kicked off at 16:20, more than nine hours after Grey’s opening match.
After beating Robertson and Upington, Grey had two tough matches against Pietersburg and Montagu.
The clash with Pietersburg was Grey’s last pool match and they had to dig deep after their defence wasn’t that great in the first half.
Just before half-time the scores were level at 10-10 but Grey put the foot on the accelerator to win 20-10.
The semi-final against Montagu was also a tough affair. Grey was put under pressure early and it took another huge second half effort to secure a place in the final.
The scores were level at 7-7 at the break, but Grey scored two tries in the second half. With Grey leading 19-7 it looked like the game was in the bag.
Montagu had other ideas though and fought back with a good try. Grey managed to hang on to win 19-12.
These tough matches, in the extremely warm conditions, must have taken their toll on the Grey boys but they managed one last courageous effort in the final and yes, it was so close.
Every member in the squad played a part in Grey’s success and it was no surprise that a Grey boy was named as the player of the final tournament.
The honour went to the EP player, Xhanti Pongolo. He was a giant in the Grey side and feared by his opponents as he was a real handful with his powerful runs. The Grey performance brought to an end a fine season for EP when many teams excelled at national level. Bring on 2023!
