The 12th annual Graeme College Rugby Day on Saturday was “once again a massive success for the school and rugby in the Eastern Cape in general” according to the organiser, Nico van der Meulen.
All the traditional heavyweights from the Border and Eastern Province schools were represented, along with an invitational side from outside the province.
The 12th annual Graeme College Rugby Day on Saturday was “once again a massive success for the school and rugby in the Eastern Cape in general” according to the organiser, Nico van der Meulen.
All the traditional heavyweights from the Border and Eastern Province schools were represented, along with an invitational side from outside the province.
Also taking part in this year’s event was the top 2009 Natal School, Glenwood, who travelled down to take part.
“Best of all is the meeting of old and familiar friends as the Eastern Cape rugby community joins together. The support from the Grahamstown community, as well as the supporters of the various schools, is amazing to see and the first teams played to packed stands,” said Van der Meulen.
St Andrew’s vs Glenwood In a fast paced and physical encounter, the St Andrew’s 1st XV showed glimpses of the same form from last year in beating Glenwood 20–7.
“There is a still a lot of hard work ahead, but the boys are keen and motivated to carry on building on this good start,” St Andrew’s coach, Harley Searle.
The forwards really took the game to Glenwood which disrupted their game plan, while the backs defended manfully, shutting down the space in which Glenwood could attack.
When St Andrew’s had ball they were confident in their ability to move it around the park and at the end of the day had more legs and more determination than the opposition.
“There were a few moments in the game where we had to dig deep and the encouragement from the sidelines was invaluable,” said Searle.
Graeme vs Queen’s In a rousing finale to the highly successful Graeme Rugby Day the Graeme 1st XV went down narrowly to Queen’s College in front of a burstingat the-seams crowd on the Somerset Field.
The Graeme team showed they would be a force in schools’ rugby this year, as they played with great passion and took the game to the highly rated Queen’s team.
Graeme led 9-0 at the break due to three well-struck penalties from Alex Banfield. They extended this lead to 14-0 shortly after half time, before the dynamic flanker, Juandré Nel, scored a superb try after receiving the ball from leftwinger Jonathan Nunn, who had sprinted 60 metres down the touchline.
The Graeme side showed their inexperience at this stage – two elementary mistakes allowed Queen’s back into the match with two breakaway tries in two minutes.
Queen’s kicked a penalty and then, with Graeme seemingly set to score, turned the ball over and scored another long range try to put them 20-14 ahead.
In the last two minutes of the match Graeme attacked furiously and looked set to score again when a pass was adjudged forward and the match then ended.
“The Graeme boys had given everything and were devastated to fall just short. They will take heart going forward into the season from this encounter,” said first team coach, Brendan Grant.
Results of the first team matches from the Graeme Rugby Day: PJ Olivier 14 Nathaniel Nyaluza 5 Mary Waters 19 Port Alfred 7 Brandwag 48 Cambridge High 8 Hudson Park 15 Nico Malan 14 Framesby 7 Dale College 14 Selborne College 25 Marlow 10 Kingswood College 5 Cambridge 17 St Andrew’s College 20 Glenwood 7 Graeme College 14 Queen’s College 20 .
