The St Andrew’s College versus Dale College rugby fixture in King William’s Town is never an easy fixture and this proved to be the case yet again for the SAC First team, as Dale controlled the physical encounter on Saturday 28 July.
Whilst SAC were the first to score after a good set piece move, with Matt Royle finishing off, Dale bounced back quickly with a penalty try to level the scores fifteen minutes into the game. Minutes later, Dale took the lead for the first time with a try out wide, which was converted to go 14-7 in front.
After a good line-out by the St Andrew’s pack, and good continuity which left Dale exposed out wide, Ant More brought the visitors level at 14-14 with just a couple of minutes left in the first half. A penalty conversion from out in front saw Dale go into the break 17-14 in the lead.
A poor kick-off from St Andrew’s after the half-time break saw Dale score immediately to put SAC onto the back foot, from which they never recovered. Great attacking at pace by Dale, along with some poor St Andrew’s defense saw Dale stretch their lead out to 38-14, before the visitors got back into the game. A try each to Chris Poole and Guy Rushmere narrowed the gap to 38-26 before Dale had the last say to score and finish the game deserved 45-26 winners.
St Andrew’s had better luck in the other matches on the day, which saw the SAC Second, Third, Fourth, U16 B and U15 B sides running out victorious. The visiting Second team defeated their host counterparts by 33-24, while the Thirds and Fourths won close encounters by 28-26 and 19-10 respectively. The St Andrew’s U16 B side romped home by 31-5, while it was another close game between the two U15 B sides, which saw the SAC side run out 19-12 victors. The U16 A match was perhaps the most tightly contested of the weekend, as neither team could pull away from a 22-22 draw.
Rugby results:
St Andrew’s College 1sts 26 -45 Dale
St Andrew’s College 2nds 33 – 24 Dale
St Andrew’s College 3rds 28 – 26 Dale
St Andrew’s College 4ths 19 – 10 Dale
St Andrew’s College U16A 22 – 22 Dale
St Andrew’s College U16B 31 – 5 Dale
St Andrew’s College U15A 21 – 36 Dale
St Andrew’s College U15B 19 – 12 Dale
St Andrew’s College U14A 12 – 24 Dale
St Andrew’s College U14B 7 – 31 Dale
