Match Report: St Charles beats Clifton 36-15

In a battle of the KZN private schools, St Charles hosted Clifton at their beautiful facility in Pietermaritzburg.

St Charles got off to a bright start and by the 15-minute they had built a buffer of 12-0 via two tries. The first try was by outside centre Blake Mingay following sustained pressure by the hosts. The second try really started with Clifton on attack. A poorly placed tactical kick offered well-built 1.90m tall St Charles wing Paul Jacobs a rare opportunity to with ball in hand and he did not disappoint, making good ground down the right. The play advanced all the way to the Clifton line where the visitors conceded a penalty and SCC turned down a kick at goal in favour of a scrum. From the set-piece they worked the ball to one side, then the other before crossing for a good try. Jeremy Davidson slotted the conversion for a 12-0 lead.

Clifton then produced a good passage of play which paved the way for versatile no.8 Keegan Nxumalo to land a penalty and reduce the deficit to 12-3 in the 22-minute. Clifton had had their fair share of opportunities to launch attacks but they seemed to lack self-assurance and had made one too many errors, which reduced their effectiveness. St Charles on the other hand had not taken full advantage of spaces when seeking attacking channels.

The second half was quite exciting compared to the first.

St Charles started the try-scoring action. A backline move brought fullback Declan Cox into the action when a pass on the inside set him up for a good run. Good support by flank Siphesihle Mwelase ensured there was continuity and near the tryline the home team won a penalty, which they opted to tap and charge via loosehead Kelvin Caruth. However strong resistance by Clifton saw them win a vital turnover under immense pressure. From here a safety of touch relieving kick was required but once again the kick was below standard, not going out and giving St Charles another crack in the redzone. From a ruck, St Charles attacked the blind with centre Blake Mingay backing himself in limited space and scoring a good try in the corner in spite of attention from the defence. The conversion was missed, making it 17-3.

This try was a one-third part of a passage of about 5-minutes during which St Charles effectively ended the game as a contest. From the very next kick-off, a good carry up-field by the hosts was followed by a high kick. Clifton fullback Sean May had dealt with danger well during the match but although he collected this kick his support just did not arrive quickly enough to prevent a turnover by one of St Charles very active little flanks at the breakdown. From the ruck, the home team spread the ball out to the left and again a pop pass on the inside, this time to centre Mthobisi Mchunu was the opened a hole. With work still to be done, Mchunu rounded the last defender and ran in to score under the stick. The kick by Davidson was good making it 24-3.

From the next restart, the aerial ball was knocked down by a kick-off catcher and bounced nicely for SCC no.8 Daniel Anderson to set off on an outstanding 60m run all the way to Clifton in-goal. His pace was impressive. The try resulted in the St Charles schoolboys on the sideline singing “That’s our headboy!” So within a matter of three plays the score went from 12-3 to 29-3.

This seemed to spark something in Clifton and from then on they started to play with fire in the belly. The results showed on the scoreboard. Clifton’s two best ball-carriers captain at tighthead Nicholas Downes and blindside flank Ruben Vosloo began to exercise a significant influence on the game, breaching the advantage with their strong ball-running abilities. Downes, the Clifton headboy got in for the first of Clifton’s tries and Vosloo was key to their second try as he made big metres before Nxumalo powered his way over from close range.

Sandwiched in between the Clifton tries was a fine effort by Paul Jacobs. From an attacking scrum, Anderson picked up at the base and attacked the blind, feeding scrummy Jonathan Freeman who looked to have knocked it on but was allowed to continue. He fed Jacobs, who looks like a good prospect ahead of KZN trials and the wing used his power to get over the line. A very good kick by Davidson completed St Charles’s scoring at 36-points, with 30-points coming via six tries.