Brace yourself for some more nail-biting school rugby encounters this coming Saturday in Nelson Mandela Bay.

There were some heart-stopping matches, with the results in the balance right down to the final whistle, this past weekend.

More of the same, and involving some of the same teams, can be expected this coming Saturday in the last full round of inter-school fixtures for the year.

After battling it out in their annual Kariega Derby, Daniel Pienaar and Die Brandwag will return for more very interesting matches.

The derby never disappoints, and Daniel Pienaar won an entertaining match 20–13, played in a carnival atmosphere before an excited crowd at Brandwag.

Die Brandwag can be proud of their effort against DP, and another solid showing can be expected when they travel to Gqeberha to take on Pearson.

Pearson competed against Parel Vallei in a huge inter-school weekend. The highlight was the rugby encounter, which Pearson won 38–12.

Pearson showed that Brandwag will have to play really well to win on Saturday.

Two teams which were on the winning side this past Saturday, Nico Malan and Framesby, will clash in Humansdorp.

Framesby, playing at home in Gqeberha, beat Marlow 30–25 and Nico Malan won their home match against Punt 31–7.

This means two confident teams will tackle each other in Humansdorp. Although Nico Malan will have the home advantage, Framesby will take some beating.

Framesby is finishing off the season strongly, and did very well to hang on for victory against Marlow.

Marlow was on the attack in the dying seconds, but Framesby just managed to hang on to win. Both sides scored three tries apiece.

Muir College was another Kariega team which was involved in a tense finish. Muir put in a huge effort and very nearly got the better of Graeme College in Makhanda. There were only two points in it at the final whistle, Graeme winning 15–13.

Grey High had many fiercely contested matches with Selborne College over the years, and this was again the case in East London.

Unfortunately for the Gqeberha boys, they finished their season with a narrow loss but they didn’t go down without a fight. Selborne won 12–10.

The Grey High speedster, Xhanti Pongola, has returned to Gqeberha with a bronze medal.

He was part of the South African u/18 Sevens team which won bronze last week at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago.

South Africa beat Canada 52–0 in the match for third place.

Results

Pearson 38, Parel Vallei 12; Daniel Pienaar 20, Brandwag 13; Selborne College 12, Grey High 10; Otto du Plessis 38, Alexander Road 17; Graeme College 15, Muir College 13; Nico Malan 31, Punt 7; Framesby 30, Marlow 25.

Fixtures

Today

St Colmcille v John Walton

Saturday

Despatch v DF Malherbe, Westering v Andrew Rabie, Pearson v Brandwag, Nico Malan v Framesby, John Walton v McCarthy, Daniel Pienaar v Marlow.