Determined Penryn XV beat old rivals for place in the provincial finals
Six teams from Penryn College, Lowveld High School, Hoërskool Bergvlam and Barberton have made it through to the finals of the medium-schools league.
The semi-finals were played at Penryn on Saturday. The much-anticipated first XV match once again featured Penryn and Bergvlam. Graeme Stewart, head of rugby at Penryn, says it was evident from the start that his team’s bigger forwards and fast backline would be tough to handle.
Penryn scored the first try in the second minute and continued playing fast-paced rugby.
“This enabled them to beat Bergvlam to the rucks and cause multiple turnover balls, which were quickly spread wide to Penryn’s backline,” he says.
The hosts went into half-time leading 26 to 3 and continued to dominate the set pieces and rucks after the break. They used their opportunities to win the match 33-12.
Ernest Mthethwa and Hadrick Coertze each scored two tries and Kwanda Majola scored one after coming up off the bench. Mthethwa converted four.
“As coach I was happy with the performance. The team implemented our game plan from the start and our players stuck to it throughout the game. Our boys showed determination and good decision making on the field. We have worked hard this season on keeping the ball alive and linking our backline and forward players,” Stewart said.
Penryn’s second team also beat Bergvlam by 17 points to 5. “It was a very close match throughout with physical rugby being played by both teams. At half time it was two tries to one in the favour of Penryn.”
In total Majola scored two tries, Fritz Pohl one and Kyle Hampson converted one for the home side for Penryn to qualify for the finals. In the u/16 semis, both played at Penryn this past weekend, Lowveld High trashed 52-24 Hoërskool Sybrand van Niekerk from Sabie after winning all their pool games leading up to the semi. Ronald Msimango, Lowveld’s u/16 team coach says the team has shown great discipline under the leadership of captains Sabelo Mazibeni and Nnaishi Makhafola.
The team scored three tries first half for them to lead by 19 points to 10 at half time. Lowveld scored another six tries in the second half to settle the result. Isaac Agholor scored a total of four tries.
The team will now face Hoërskool Kanonkop from Middelburg in the final, after the latter kicked Penryn’s u/16s out of the tournament. The host school lost by a heartbreakingly close 26 to 29, after falling behind by 23-0 going into half time. The team’s coach Gunther Swart commended his team for the character they showed in the second half. “Unfortunately we had a poor start to the game while Kanonkop’s carried the ball well. Penryn also made too many handling errors.”
It is still a month until the provincial final, scheduled to be played at Penryn College after the winter break on July 25. It will determine in which positions they go into in the Beeld Trophy from August 1.
Lowveld High’s coach says his team will not rest ahead of the match. “We beat (Kanonkop) earlier on, in the pool stages, so they will want to prove a point,” Msimango says.
Stewart says the first team’s defensive line on second and third phase ball are areas of concern. “As Penryn finished top of the league with the most points, we have home ground advantage.”
Penryn’s first team will face Hoërskool Oosterland from Secunda who previously played in the large schools league. Penryn’s second team will play against Barberton. Lowveld High’s u/16 will play Hoërskool Kanonkop from Middelburg. Bergvlam’s u/15 and u/14s will play against Oosterland.
- See more pictures of the medium school semi-finals here.
