Grey's Festival, Day 2

The first team results from the second and final day of the Grey High Rugby Festival in Port Elizabeth on Saturday reveal close wins for Die Brandwag of Uitenhage, Selborne of East London and, closest of all, St Andrew's of Grahamstown.

Of the 24 teams taking part, eight won both their matches - Dale, Framesby, Grey 1st and 2nd XVs, Marlow, Queen's, St Alban's of Pretoria and St Andrew's.

Grey High blitzed Durban High School with five first-half tries, while Selborne snatched victory at the death as the Grey High Rugby Festival drew to an exciting conclusion on the Philip field in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.

The hosts maintained their proud record at their festival with a 33-14 result, but full credit must go to DHS for the way they came back in the second half by scoring two tries while limiting their opponents to no points.

However, the fightback of the day belonged to Selborne, who scored an equalising try on the hooter in their clash with Durban school Northwood.

That made it 26-26 and centre Warrick Day then stepped up to the plate to nail the conversion, bringing a happy end to the festival for the East London side after they had lost in similar circumstances to Jeppe on Thursday.

In a match full of action, Northwood fought back courageously from 14-0 down to grab the lead with less than five minutes remaining.

A kick ahead by Selborne was not followed up properly and this allowed the Durban lads to launch an attack from within their own 22-metre area, Willett Ntsinga being the final recipient to race nearly 50 metres for a try under the poles.

That made it 26-21, but Northwood then fiddled too much around the ruck area as they tried to close out the game. Selborne forced a turnover, received a penalty and kicked for the corner near their opponents’ line.

The ensuing drive saw Jarrod Taylor bash his way over for the try which brought the scores level and Day did the rest to snatch a 28-26 win.

With the south-easterly at their backs, Grey dominated the opening period against DHS from the moment flyhalf Matthew Easton split the defence in the sixth minute to race over for a try under the poles.

Further tries came from Nathan Doster, Siviwe Zondani and Leo Wolf (2), while four conversions by Easton took them out to a telling 33-0 lead at the break.

The home side made too many mistakes in the second half and DHS showed spirit by getting tries through Xhanti Njokweni and Jaydian Cedares, but the leeway was too much to make up.

In the other close result of the day on the Philip field, St Andrew’s came back from 12-3 down to earn a hard-fought 13-12 win over the tough Jeppe outfit.

With their second win of the festival, Kingswood showed what they could do, comfortably defeating St John’s 35-8 after conceding an early try and a penalty.

A try by lock PJ Sizani saw them turn around 8-7 down, but they took control in the second half as Duncan Krige, Nick Lawson-Smith, Nigel Tinarawa and Bryce Collins all crossed the whitewash. Collins added five conversions.

In a clash on the Pollock Oval, Die Brandwag were pushed all the way by St Benedict’s, but won 22-19, while Itembelihle had the edge over Woodridge 26-12.

1st XV Results, Day 2

Dale vs Parktown, 43-5

Die Brandwag vs St Benedict's, 22-19

Framesby vs Hudson Park, 61-10

Grey High vs DHS, 33-14

Grey High Unicorns vs Andrew Rabie, 36-0

Itembelihle vs Woodridge, 26-12

Kingswood vs St John's, 35-8

Marlow vs Graeme, 34-10

Queen's vs St David's Marist Inanda, 27-10

Selborne vs Northwood, 28-26

St Alban's vs Muir, 22-0

St Andrew's College vs Jeppe, 13-12

St Stithians vs Stirling, 80-12

1st XV Results, Day 1

Dale College vs Muir, 33-3

Framesby vs DHS, 54-10

Grey High Unicorns vs Itembelihle, 24-22

Grey High vs Northwood, 43-12

Hudson Park vs St Benedict's, 24-14

Jeppe Boys vs Selborne, 19-15

Kingswood vs Parktown, 50-12

Marlow vs Stirling, 24-5

Queen's vs St Stithians, 46-24

St Alban's vs Graeme College, 10-7

St Andrew's College vs St John's, 31-0

St David's Marist Inanda vs Woodridge, 24-7

Day 2 Age-Group Results

Under-16

Graeme vs Parktown, 21-19

Grey B vs Woodridge, 50-5

Grey vs Jeppe, 41-3

Muir vs St Alban’s, 28-0

Queen’s vs St David’s, 17-0

Selborne vs Northwood, 42-21

St John’s vs Kingswood, 47-5

St Stithians vs Stirling, 32-10

Under-15

Graeme vs Parktown, 14-7

Grey vs Jeppe, 38-12

Northwood vs Selborne, 38-24

Queen’s vs St David’s, 34-5

St Alban’s vs Muir, 22-13

St John’s vs Kingswood, 62-5

Stirling vs Woodridge, 24-0

Under-14

Framesby vs St Andrew’s, 26-0

Graeme vs Parktown, 43-0

Grey vs Jeppe, 62-0

Hudson Park vs Die Brandwag, 12-10

Kingswood St John’s, 26-12

Muir vs St Alban’s, 24- 14

Queen’s vs St David’s, 29-0

Selborne Northwood, 52-0

Woodridge Stirling, 22-0

From Neale Emslie