EASTERN Province will be able to select a strong u/17 Sevens Rugby squad for the national tournament to be held later this year.
The final EP trials will take place tomorrow at Andrew Rabie High in Gqeberha. Recent matches and training sessions showed that the selectors have a group of talented players to choose from.
This coming Saturday many of the top u/17 players in the province will be playing in tournaments at Outeniqua High in George, and at Nico Malan High in Humansdorp.
In Humansdorp the action will start on Friday, when Nico Malan will host their tournament for the fifth year.
It is going to be a top-class Sevens, with the highly rated Grey College from Bloemfontein and Paarl Boys’ High among the participating teams.
The Nelson Mandela Bay teams from Grey High, Framesby, Daniel Pienaar and Die Brandwag will join a Gqeberha Invitation side, Oakdale (Riversdale), St Andrew’s, Graeme College (both Makhanda), Noord-Kaap (Kimberley) and the hosts, in what should be a fascinating event.
It won’t be just rugby. The Fast 5 Netball tournament will take place alongside the Sevens.
Framesby, DF Malherbe, Die Brandwag, Despatch, Collegiate, Humansdorp and Drostdy will join Nico Malan in this contest.
The first matches will start at 08:00.
This past Saturday, Grey High hosted their Sevens tournament in Gqeberha. There were 16 under 17 teams in action, and 12 teams contested the under-15 section.
The u/17 final started in sensational fashion when Meyer Prinsloo scored a try for Grey just 30 seconds into the match.
Graeme College struggled to defend against the strong and speedy Grey attackers, and at half-time the hosts were already leading 21–5.
In the end, Grey scored five tries against one to win 33–5. Prinsloo scored three of the winning team’s tries and was one of the stars for the champions.
Framesby launched a terrific comeback to beat Nico Malan in the play-off for third place.
Nico Malan started well and looked completely in control when leading 17–0. Framesby never gave up, fought back, and eventually scored the winning points with a minute left to seal the deal 19–17.
Grey High dominated the under-15 section. In the final, Graeme College was no match for the hosts.
At half-time Grey were leading 12–0 and continued to pile the pressure on Graeme in the second stint, to win 17–0.
In the last traditional inter-school match of the year, Despatch won at home against DF Malherbe.
It was a fiercely contested affair in which the result could have gone either way, but Despatch hung on to beat the Gqeberha visitors 26–22.
