Curro Nelspruit run with the big dogs at Kwagga Week
Curro Nelspruit's u/14 and u/15 rugby teams had the privilege of attending the prestigious Kwagga Rugby Week that was held at Hoërskool Outeniqua, George.
Only the top-20 ranked schools are invited to attend this annual event.
Day one saw both Curro’s teams against Windhoek Gymnasium from Namibia.
The u/14 match started off very physical with the Windhoek team using their large forward pack to try to suck in Curro’s defence. They held strong and managed to secure a turnover ball. This led to the majority of the possession for Curro and they secured a comfortable 34-12 victory.
In the u/15 encounter, Windhoek Gym, used a passing game to secure three quick tries. The team is not used to chasing a score, but they showed great character in playing the full 70 minutes and were victorious in the last minutes of the game winning 22-17.
Day two’s fixtures were determined on a strength versus strength basis and it was both Curro teams against Hoërskool Pearson from the Eastern Cape. The Pearson team played a confrontational game – with constant off-the-ball incidents.
The players needed to adapt quickly and make sure they stay focused on the rugby. The u/14s stuck to their structures and secured a deserved 24-12 win. In the u/15 match, Pearson had the majority of the possession and used it to score two tries. Curro were their own worst enemies with several unforced errors in scoring situations that cost them the game. Pearson won 12-5 and this was only the third loss in
21 matches for the Curro team.
Day three had the Curro u/14s play the Premier A School from Cape Town, Wynberg Boys High. For some perspective, Wynberg has five u/14 rugby teams compared to Curro’s one team.
Also read: Curro thanks those who helped it reach higher
Curro were hurting from two wins in the week and wanted to test their depth in this final match. The Wynberg team played an expansive passing game and were 24-14 up at half time.
In the second half the Wynberg players continued to beat the Curro defenders with their skilled passing and ended 46-14 winners. In the u/15 match, Curro was playing the 2016 rugby school of the year – Hoërskool Parel Vallei.
After their loss on day two, Curro were keen to play their winning brand of rugby and succeeded. The Parel Vallei team were no match for the fast tempo of Curro and they ran out 40-5 winners.
