Port Natal Night Series: DHS beats George Campbell 24-7

It was predicted that this DHS versus George Campbell game would be the match of the opening evening of the Geldenhuys Broers Bedryk Night Series at Port Natal Hoerskool because it pitted two KZN top schools against each other and going by their results against shared opponents over the last few years everything pointed to them being fairly closely matched.  I’m using this measure because DHS and Campbell have not met on the rugby field for a number of years now.  But whatever dispute they may have had is now in the past. It’s one of the advantages of appointing a new headmaster, in this case Leon Erasmus of DHS – the ability to put the something to bed and make a fresh start.

DHS made a good start and were consistent throughout the match. It was quite unexpected actually. Having watched the speed that Campbell introduced in opening games of previous Night Series tournaments and believing that DHS would be a bit sluggish, I thought that a point would come in the second half when DHS would be overwhelmed and hanging on for dear life. The opposite happened. Under head coach Christo Wilkinson’s guidance, DHS now look so much better prepared than the reputation they have developed with regards to fitness etc. Night Series form is not a good measure of the regular season outcomes but this is a season when a school like DHS has to set their goal at finishing fourth in KZN and there is realistic opportunity to achieve this if they can beat those schools expected to congest the middle of the KZN log.

DHS dominated the opening exchanges of this game. They didn’t have many lineout slash rolling mauls combos but they used this well on a few occasions. Overall they won the territorial battle and pressurised Campbell into making countless errors, mainly when Campbell had possession. DHS missed a good opportunity to finish in the 1st half but generally their finishing was good. Their first points came via a 5-metre scrum gifted to them by GC.  And talking scrums what a pleasure to get back to games where the new scrumming rules actually seem to work rather than being a reset or penalty eyesore.  Anyway from the solid scrum, well-built DHS no. Ntolozisi Nthuli picked up cleanly, went blind and put  his outstanding fullback Mabutana Peter in for the first points of the game. Mabutana has good on-field attitude and some sick lateral movement ability to go with decent pace. He should be a strong Craven Week contender this season.

Another player of interest in the DHS team is Gareth Simpson. Usually a scrumhalf but filling in at flyhalf for the first half of this game, he showed a few touches of class as well.  Gareth isn’t a broad player by any stretch of the imagination but he has grown a big and is a player worth keeping an eye out for during DHS games.  He did the kicking duties in the first half but it was his distance he generated from his left boot punt that outweighed his place-kicking accuracy on the night.

After going 5-0 down, George Campbell bounced back. The most memorable of their plays came in the first half. A long accurate cut out pass made well inside their own half, initially had “intercept me” written all over it but once the speed of the delivery had beaten all defenders fingertips and found its way into the breadbasket of the outside centre (Ngubane?), it was like watching an EPL football playmaker thread the perfect pass through a host of defenders to his striker. The pass created space for Campbell to carry the ball 50m up the pitch and although nothing came of this move, it was a catalyst which say them competing a lot better.  Their reward came just before the break when from red zone pressure they won a penalty. Quick-thinking inside centre Lindokuhle Nzimande tapped and caught the DHS defence napping. He still had work to do and showed good strength to muscle his way over in spite of the attention given to him by a couple of defenders. The Campbell fullback converted and believe it or not Campbell actually led 7-5 at the break.

During the first half George Campbell toyed around with the self-destruct button a couple of times but during the second half, their players seemed like they were queuing up to hit this button as hard as possible whenever possible. First of all the penalty count against them was heavy and this game was reffed by one of the most experienced school refs in Durban, so it was hard to believe he was getting their many infringements particularly at rucks wrong. It didn’t end there. Campbell struggled with basic catching of the ball at times. Their tighthead prop (Roger Zondi) should have been one of the players of the evening. He did exceptional initial work as a ball carrier, often breaking the advantage line but he too somehow just could not retain possession in contact. However by far the worst of all was there panic on their own goal-line. The basics suggested find a way to get a good strong pass to the fullback who has a rangy boot and could probably put them conservatively at least 30m away of the danger zone. Instead some wayward passing and bad decision-making followed. The effects of what happened during this game meant they struggled for continuity of any kind and probably conceded a couple of tries they should not have.

The positives for GC is that there is potential to work with and lots of time still to iron out the problems before the real season starts.

Take nothing away from DHS. Better disciple, good defensive work, applying the right sort of pressure at the right times and the employment of good tactics all served to make them the deserved winners in the end.

4th year DHS 1st XV rugby veteran Le Roux van Zyl came on in his favourite position of flyhalf in the second half. His kicks for touch weren’t great but other than that he made a good contribution to the second half effort with tactical kicks, carrying and passing.

Mabutana Peter was the starting point of DHS’s second try about 8-minutes into the second half. He dodged a few tackles on a decisive weaving run. It gave DHS good field position and quickball from the ruck saw the ball go wide, where a chip and chase undid the cover defence for left wing Sandile Khumalo to get in. DHS led 10-7 at this stage.

A good rolling maul saw DHS come close to scoring again a few minutes later.

This scoreline was extended to 17-7 with the next DHS try 7 minutes later. Campbell turned over ball cheaply via poor handling near their own try-line. DHS once again responded rapidly and spread the ball to midfield where inside centre Blessing Buthelezi rounded his man quite brilliantly in a one-on-one challenge and raced in near the sticks. Le Roux added the extras.

The game ended with Campbell desperately trying to run the ball out of their red zone but there was little cohesion amongst their players and DHS’s defence once again dominated the play. Yet another turnover inside the GC 22m area resulted in one last onslaught and it was replacement Mfihlakalo Tembe who dived over for School’s fourth try.