Kearsney and Hilton in a showpiece

Kearsney supporters had to bite their nails for a while but eventually got to celebrate Old Boys’ Day in style as their One-Stripes came from behind to beat a gutsy Hilton 20-8 on the Stott, avenging their loss to the same opponents in the Midlands earlier in the season. The high intensity match was a great advert for schoolboy rugby as both sets of players put their bodies on the line in an effort to manufacture a winning outcome, producing a good quality match in the process.

Over the 70-minutes game time Kearsney established themselves the far better attacking force. However the same high tempo and superb handling that had worked so well for Kearsney in big wins over the likes of Michaelhouse, Maritzburg College and St Stithians in recent matches, was countered by Hilton’s Trojan-like defensive resolve this time around. Hilton’s virtually impenetrable defence nearly won them this match. The Hilton boys showed 100% dedication to the tackle, tried their best not to overcommit numbers to the rucks while staying very alert to pilfering opportunities particularly deep inside their own redzone, where they ended a countless number of promising Kearsney offences with crucial turnovers either through good technique or relentless pressure that forced uncharacteristic errors.

Hilton started the match very brightly and for a good part the ball possession stats were more or less 50:50. The “Whites” carried the ball into contact with meaning and recycled it equally well. This physicality set the tone for a memorable match, as it resulted in some big collisions. Kearsney’s “D” that did not have to work as nearly as hard as that of their opponents but was as effective and put in some huge hits on Hilton’s big ball-carriers. An early reward came Hilton’s way via a penalty at the ruck and star flyhalf Curtis put his team 3-0 ahead.

Kearsney did not have to wait long to get level. Hilton had done their homework on Kearsney’s standout no.8 ballcarrier Richardson. He was a well-marked player during the match and the game-breaking ability which has established him as arguably the most influential player in KZN this season, was shown no respect at all by Hilton. Richardson did however manage to produce one of his trademark power runs after catching a tactical kick. The ground gained set the go-forward and could have led to a 5-pointer for Kearsney but a dropped pass when it was on meant the hosts had to settle for a penalty by wing Sutherland from the advantage being played.

This made it 3-3 after just 7 minutes and that’s how it stayed until the break. Sutherland’s radar was a bit off and he missed two long kicks at goal during the half while Curtis struck the crossbar from a 55m penalty just before halftime. Other highlights included Kearsney scrumhalf Driver sniping down the blindside at the end of really good team effort build-up and being stopped just short of the Hilton line. Later flank Croshaw looked like he had broken the deadlock for the Maroon Machine only for the referee to rule out his try due to crossing in that build-up. The low-light was seeing big-hearted physical Hilton lock Teichmann being stretched off after coming off second best in a tackle he tried to make – a huge blow for the visitors.

Just past the 10-minute mark in the second half, Hilton scored a brilliant try. Flyhalf Curtis has been the architect of so many good things for Hilton this season and his spur of the moment decision to not exit from inside his 22 and instead transfer the ball to centre Musepo was the catalyst. Musepo found a favourable line by cutting from the right-hand touch towards the inside and his determined run made metres and soon found support players who added to forward thrust of the play. When Kearsney looked to have scrambled to halt the progress, some classic slick passes saw the ball quickly moved wide to the left where wing McGhee was able to use his strength and then pace to burn this marker on the outside and finish well. The unconverted try was against the run of play. Nevertheless it was Hilton that had made their opportunity count to lead 8-3 while Kearsney had and would continue to fall short in their attempts to cross the white chalk from numerous surges.

Kearsney persisted to throw the kitchen sink at Hilton. They attacked around the fringes of rucks more in an attempt to breach the D-wall and suck in defenders but just could not shake the Hilton defensive organisation. Hilton did however impede a few times in their overenthusiastic attempts to steal and/or slow ball at the breakdowns, allowing Kearsney two further penalty shots at goal, one of which was successful and narrowed the deficit to 8-6 with 20 minutes to go.

Kearsney’s KZN Craven Week opensider Croshaw seemed to have met his defensive match in the former of Pirri, Peverelle and Williams who were uncompromising in their efforts to get their hands on tackled ball before the ruck was formed. On attack it was a different story. The flank who week in week out makes little contributions here and there that add up to a lot by the end of a match in terms of value adding, continued in that vein and was on hand to bust past defenders and get over from close range, giving his team the lead at 13-8 with only 7-minutes to go. Forward power had to credited for getting Kearsney into a position to score.

In both the under-16A and 2nd XV matches that preceded the main game, Hilton had shown tremendous character to turn what looked like losing causes into wins with the help of late tries. The tense finish foundation had been laid for a third success of this nature and when Hilton helped by a good carry from replacement prop Nyembezi won a penalty and set up an attacking lineout on the Kearsney 22, they had their opportunity. It was not to be though. Kearsney were able to regain possession and exit. This presented Hilton fullback Badenhorst with a chance to apply more pressure but his attempted chip over the top worked in Kearsney’s favour. Flyhalf Ritchie who had been a perfect 10 out of 10 against both House and Saints, produced the attacking innovation from deep that saw wing Daniel and centre Craze adding to the good work which took play from the Kearsney 22 into the Hilton 22 on the attacking team’s right-hand side of the field. Although there was still a lot to be done when the ball went wide to the left, the carries and interchanges between Croshaw, Richardson and Sutherland were just too sharp for the Hilton defence to cope with and between the three of them they created the opening from close for Taylor, a young lock who had made such a huge impression via his work rate and ball-carrying during this match, to powered over and put the result beyond doubt. Sutherland added the extra to extend Kearsney’s lead to 20-8, one which closer resembled the balance of play.

What an absorbing game! Hats off to both colleges for their contributions towards making it wonderful day of rugby. The spirit in which they played also deserves a round of applause.