After a rather cold and rainy week, the sun came out on the weekend and Hillcrest hosted a wonderful tournament in perfect weather. The morning started off with a cracker of a game between the hosts and Collegians U13A sides. Collegians put on a polished performance and their forwards were dominant in their 19 – 7 victory. Varsity College took on Harlequins in a very one sided match with Varsity College scoring at will in a 52 – 5 victory. The U13B’s saw Amanzimtoti romp to an impressive 61 – 0 victory over Pinetown, while Ballito accounted for Hillcrest B in a tough 22 – 10 victory.
The top of the table clash in the U15A’s between Collegians and Hillcrest turned out to be a humdinger, with Collegians just edging out Hillcrest 25 – 22. Varsity College, struck by injury and illness, could only field 14 players in their game against Harlequins. This didn’t deter the boys from Durban North, as the proceeded to play as if they had extra players on the field. Although they were reduced to 13 men in the 2nd half (injury), they won impressively outscoring Harlequins 55 – 10.
The U16 held no surprises, as Ballito were a no show for the 2nd time in the day (U15B also didn’t arrive) and Collegians scored 57 unanswered points against Pinetown. The best U16 game was undoubtedly the Varsity College – Amanzimtoti clash. While Amanzimtoti struggled with numbers and borrowed players from other clubs, they put up a game display and could hold their heads high at the end of the match. Varsity College backline were polished and the forwards were outstanding in scoring a 36 – 07 victory over Toti.
The U18 games were also excellent, with Crusaders putting up a good show in going down 35 – 18 to the log leaders Harlequins. While Ballito managed to snatch a last gasp victory at Crusaders 2 weeks ago, they weren’t as fortunate this time. Collegians ran out deserved winners, outscoring Ballito by 17 – 11.
The semi-finals will be held at Varsity college on Sunday 16 September and you can expect the intensity to increase as teams fight it out for a place in the finals.
well done teams that did well today
i can now sit here a say the writer of this article is exactly the biased person he really is, NW night, please write proper articles and not based on your VC biased approach , let’s not foregut why you left Crusaders , haaaa haa , Collegians, weren’t and have never been the better in the u18 , Dolphins and Harlequins are the deserved winners , u15 Dolphins deserved winners this weekend, forgetting that the teams playing in the semi , didn’t event pitch, VC playing illegal players , what this space
@GreenBlooded: u want it fixed , get a different Exco , thats where your problem lies , me thinks
@BUFFEL: The problem is that there are so many clubs in the same area competing for the same pool of players. We saw this last year where Old Boys (now Varsity College) started a junior section, a whole bunch of Crusaders payers went over with the result that neither club could field a team in U13. We have Collegians, Crusaders, Varsity College and now Rovers within a 10km radius all going for the same players. Coversely we at Hillcrest have an over-supply in some age-groups yet are restricted to only 2 teams resulting in may potential players getting despondent at not getting game time and leaving the system. It needs to looked at and some sensible decisions made.
@CyndiAtRugbyI agree whole heartedly. The only thing is that the clubs like Rovers need to make an effort to draw kids to the club by invite or visit the school to put their case forward. It is crazy that the current club champions do not have a meaningful junior section. If all the clubs could do a good marketing job,imagine the games the boys would have on a Sunday. It would be strength vs strenght. :
@BUFFEL: If the club scene is to work well and build, some serious talking needs to be done between schools and clubs. Most schools are running off season fitness programmes for rugby during the 3rd and 4th term – at the same time our boys are doing club practice and fitness. This can equate to almost 20hours a week depending on the school and club.
I do not believe that the schools should stipulate which clubs the boys should belong to though because this school integration is what makes club rugby so much more fun.
i think the clubs need to do some serious recruiting before next season if the junior club rugby is going to survive.
while Ballito accounted for Hillcrest B in a tough 22 – 10 victory
Not true. Hillcrest won the match.