Kingswood stay true to form

The game’s tempo was set in the opening movement when Graeme flank Dalu January flattened Kingswood’s Captain Jason Collet with a big hit from the first kickoff. But Kingswood were not phased by the tackle.

 

In the first ten to 13 minutes, they were on the defensive and the ball was being denied by the hosts. Their defensive wall held firm, with centres John Hale and Chris Keets prominent.

 

In that brutal opening period, Kingswood had flank Theo Calitz subbed early, an indication of the ferocity of the breakdown contest but a ruck infringement by the visitors led to a penalty, which was converted by flyhalf Alex Banfield in the 12th minute.

 

Kingswood hit back immediately after the restart when the hosts fumbled a kickoff. Kingswood then recycled the ball quickly and stretched the home side’s defence. This led to a penalty, which was taken quickly by the nippy halfback Sello Phafane, which in turn led to a try by left wing David Kombe.

 

At 5-3, the visitors then took control of the game and kept the ball in hand, and another ruck penalty was converted by fullback Scot van Breda to push the score to 8-3. The home side again wrested the initiative and another Banfield penalty narrowed the margin to 8-6.

 

Another kickoff blunder by the hosts lead to them losing possession. From the ensuing lineout, outside centre Hale broke through the line and put right wing Ruru Msutu in space to dot down in the corner, which was converted by Van Breda pushing the score to 13-6.

 

The hosts again did not lie down, with the loose trio of January, Juandre Nel and captain Wikus Coetzee prominent on  defence and attack. The hosts went into the interval trailing 6-13.

 

In the second period, Graeme came out firing and a bullocking run by flanker Nel was stopped just short of the line. But Graeme could not press home the advantage and conceded a penalty for holding on. This proved to be a turning point of the game as Kingswood held onto the ball and pressed down into Graeme’s 22.

 

From a line out, another break by Hale broke the Graeme defence, and put a grubber through for Van Breda to collect and score to extend the lead to 20-6. The hosts again penetrated deep into the visitor’s half but could not convert their possession domination into points.

 

A stray pass from hooker Tyrone Rankin, which undid the good work from a line out steal affected by lock Olwethu Hans, was collected by flanker Chris Roberts. Roberts then stormed down field, took a big hit from wing Aubrey Mpongoma on the pitch, but still got up and ran another 40 metres to score the converted try that effectively sealed the game as a contest nine minutes into the second half.

 

Rough play
At 27-6, the hosts lost some cohesion, missed a few tackles and kicks did not find the touchline, but they then regrouped and applied pressure to the Kingswood line, but the line held firm, with the home side sometimes being guilty of impatience.

 

The game was marred by fighting towards the end, where scrumhalf Phafane and lock Hans were shown yellow. The game still did not lose any of its potency, but Graeme’s dominance in the last 20 minutes was rewarded when flanker Nel crossed the chalk to reduce the margin to 27-11. The hosts rectified their kickoff woes and put pressure on the line in the last five minutes, but could not breach the line.

 

Kingswood were the deserved winners as they used all the available scoring opportunities with the limited ball they had and defended well when under pressure, while Graeme showed excellent teamwork and did not once give in even though they trailed by 21 points at some stage. Their pack fronted up and played well as a unit, but will have lamented their inability to convert their possession into points.

 

Graeme: Try: Juandre Nel, Penalties: Alex Banfield (2)

Kingswood: Tries: David Kombe, Ruru Msutu, Scot van Breda, Chris Roberts, Conversions: Van Breda (2), Penalty: Van Breda.