Maritzburg College in strong win 

Match Report

Maritzburg College beat Pretoria Boys High 24-5 at College, 6 May 2006.

The first home match of the season was against long-standing rivals, Pretoria Boys High. Before the match, PBHS were ranked fifth in the country and clearly represented a major challenge to College, particularly after the heavy loss to Grey College.

From the start, the College pack established ascendancy and never let PBHS settle down. Although the visitors won their fair share of possession, they were usually on the back foot and could make little headway.

College’s fine forward play was complemented by sturdy, indeed stern, backline defence. PBHS simply never had any space to play in and, under inexorable pressure, were hustled into error. For most of the first half, College held the upper hand, but could not score. Then, in the ten minutes before the break, Duncan Havenga pounced upon a PBHS handling error to open the scoring, and Thabo Tshabalala crashed over in the corner after a quickly taken penalty kick caught PBHS on the hop. Although neither try was converted, College were full value for their 10-0 half-time lead.

In the second half, College maintained their dominance and added a third try, this time converted by Travis Huntly, when Stuart Hill scuttled over in the corner. Late in the match, PBHS gained some consolation when a tap penalty was driven over the line for a try by John Brawly, but College had the final word - after several phases of play, enough space was created for Ricardo Ferreira to cross the line on the left and score near the posts. Huntly’s conversion completed a well deserved 24-5 victory.

By Tony Wiblin