KZN 2023 domestic interschools season gets underway

Michaelhouse 27 Maritzburg College 20

The beauty of schoolboy rugby played out in this encounter on Meadows. Last year College would have killed to have a pack capable of producing the sort of ascendancy they experienced during this match. It turned out to be a fine display by their tight-five. But while College had Lili Bester (#13) to produce magical x-factor moments in 2022, in 2023 KZN’s Lili Bester equivalent is an outside centre named Campbell Ridl and he plays for Michaelhouse. Ridl had an outstanding match and was arguably the KZN player of the day. College came in as underdogs for this away game, based on the makeup of the House team in 2023 and College’s low key early season preparations compared to those of House.  So it was a bit astonishing when the visitors built up a handy early lead of 15-0, thanks in large part to power-play mauling and dive over tries for frontrow forwards Aiden Botha and Elbie Mouton. House clawed it back to 15-14 with good handling tries to produce run-ins for wing Leo Muziva, with Ridl providing the memorable linebreak and assist for the second try. A couple of penalties saw House go ahead at 20-15 before another dominant maul had the College hooker Mouton fall over the line for his second try. With time running out and the game on the line, Ridl backed himself in the redzone, in a 1v1 and again owned the outside line to crash over for the winning try.

Northwood 10 Hilton 29

The interesting story in the build-up was no fewer than 14 u17 players in the Northwood 2^nd XV that lost 8-11. So for the Knights, 2023 may be the quiet before the storm. The sad news was that KZN Craven Week hopeful Keith Chirwa (Knights #13) broke his leg early on during this 1st XV match. On the field the main match got off to a high tempo start. The teams seemed an equal match early on. Northwood left a few points on the field to be 10-3 down at the break but with all to play for. All Hilton’s points belonged to the flyhalf Chris Horak who had a good match, particularly with the boot and proved to be one of the province’s players of the day. His try showed the step up from last season, as with a bit more size and power in the arsenal, he was able to back himself in a strength contest near the line and win. Horak’s impressive boot extended the Hilton lead to 16-3 before the hosts brought it back to 16-10 via a try by big no.8 Siyanda Mabuza. Another Horak penalty followed before Hilton used two lineouts as platforms for tries by tough-as-nails prop Jabavu Bunono and speedy wing Rukudzo Madinga,  in latter part of the match. Hilton #8 Akhona Kunene proved to be a thorn in Northwood’s side, producing good form and making plenty of hard metres with ball-in-hand. Preceded by a few good 1st XVs, the Hilton 2023 team has a hard act to follow but got off to a good start. Their discipline, fitness and intensity looks as good as the standard one comes to expect from a Brad Macleod-Henderson coached team. This streaming was by far the best production of the KZN games because it did not appear to rely on the SuperSport Schools AI Camera. To enhance the production, Northwood invited an equally enthusiastic Hilton member to share the commentary box with their talented broadcaster. It was a great combo effort and a really nice touch by the Hilton gentleman to include naming his Northwood player of the match, who turned out to be hooker Luthando Makula.

Kearnsney 19 Clifton 0

Clifton is a young private high school without a proper boarding facility. They have made big strides as best depicted by their fixture list which includes seven of the other nine KZN top league schools in 2023. They achieved a top reward for effort in 2022 when they caused an upset by beating Kearsney 24-17. In spite of the win, their status of underdogs remained intact.  Home team Kearsney hoping for better times in 2023, seemed to be on a mission to put the mares of last season behind them and got out the blocks quite quickly, building a 14-0 lead inside of 10-minutes. First the home team camped deep inside the Clifton 22 for a long period before wing Joe Verbaan eventually crossed. The second try was a lot more opportunistic but did involve skill by Kearsney’s best back Sisa France (#12) who plucked a kick out the sky and ran 60m down the down the left touchline to score.  For the rest, being 60-minutes, the One-Stripes won 5-0, which was pretty much a fair reflection of their lack of dominance. They could not take control in the forward exchanges and as a result, players wearing jersey numbers 11, 13, 14 and 15 had precious few opportunities with ball-in-hand. Behind the scenes, there was a waterpolo disruption, so there are hopes of better days ahead. Areas crying out for improvement are  ground gaining carriers by the pack and the longstanding request for more flair/creativity/higher tempo amongst the backs. The third try was a better one, as it appeared to be a set move from a scrum. Left wing  Junior Dlamini was the deep runner on a good line and raced between defenders to score. Clifton had a good share of the ball but really showed very little by way of attacking penetration. The Kearsney defence was organised and solid. Clifton’s best moments seem to come via the separation that #8 Bryce Beeslaar got off the back of the scrums and when flyhalf Joe Rey opted to take it up and offload, it looked like something to build plays off.

St Charles 14 Durban HS 52

St Charles took the cake for KZN uncooked team of the 2023 domestic season. No blame on the coaching staff as it’s often policies beyond their control which dictate the transition boundaries between summer and winter sports. There was no hiding away from the fact that their preseason preparations were inadequate to take on a well-prepared team like DHS. To add to it, SCC don’t have anything planned until they play Easter Festival rugby in a few weeks time. The differences were evident. DHS simply picked up where they left off during their impressive second half against Bethlehem Voortrekker a week earlier. Their tempo was awesome and this high speed coupled with quality ball and handling found holes at will in the shell-shocked Saints D. School’s backline are red hot and in particular flyhalf Deano Boesak is in standout form. In the forwards, flank Siseko Mani is like a young Willem Alberts. DHS were full value for their 33-0 halftime lead. All credit to the character of the Saints boys. They battled on, scoring a couple of tries and lost the second half 19-14.   They scrummed well throughout the match and showed hints of quality backline play late on. The match was meant to be played in Durban but Van Heerden’s field looks like a bit of a warzone at the moment because DHS are building and a payloader or dump truck has ruined the west side of the field (which there are plans to repair). Anyways there is a nice new gym next to the main field and a beautiful new hockey astro on the top field (Sanford) for spectators to look forward to this season.

Glenwood 25 Westville 24

Being the start to the regular season, meant this high profile error-riddled match might not be remembered for quality but in terms of entertainment value it scored a top rating. The two sides neutralised each other in many respects. The halftime score was 15-9 to the home team Glenwood. Both their tries were from luck of the bounce stuff. The first a misdirected 5m lineout by Westville on their own tryline, which allowed Bongani Dlamini (#3) to gather and dive over. An attempted dab ahead deflected off a Westville player in the middle of the park and allowed Glenwood centre Okanta Chijindu to collect it and feed outside. The AI camera could not follow the ball to see what happened after that. Westville’s opening try was also the end product of a poor lineout throw, this time by Glenwood. It had a bit of a messy start near halfway but got better once Tebogo M’khomazi (#8) carried and expertly offloaded in the tackle to set Likhona Finca (#12) away and he fed centre partner Siyabonga Ndlozi, perhaps a wee bit too early, however the latter had the gas and strength on his feet to beat the tackle of the last line defender and finish a great team effort try to bring things back to 15-14 to Glenwood. Glenwood extended this lead via a slow-tap and drive inside the 22, to eventually pile over under the sticks and lead 22-14, which became 22-17 and  then 25-17. Westville ended the scoring with try via a 5m lineout to the back, which M’khomazi caught quite well at his maximum lift height, came down safely but in an unusual position facing the Glenwood line and raced through a straight poorly guarded path which had open up for him to take advantage of. Talented Glenwood fullback Jaco Williams raked up the metres with exciting runs while is opposite number Tshegofatso Ramaloko is never ever short of dazing footwork.