August 2nd, 2009

Although Saturday wasn’t a full programme of rugby, most teams had good wins. The 1stXV had to sweat it out for their 12-7 win.

 

On a sunny but chilly Saturday morning in Newlands the South African College High School (SACS) had a lucky escape against Bellville-Tech. Somewhat fortuitously for SACS they managed to hold out for a 12-7 win.

Reduced to fourteen men and leading 12-7 in the last minute of the game SACS sent the ball down the backline. A pass went awry and Bellville-Tech centre Aldre Kleuvis latched on the ball. SACS were playing without a fullback and Kleuvis appeared to have a straight run in. Instead of just running straight though he decided to try and go towards the poles and SACS’s substitute wing Nicholas van der Westhuizen was able to track back and make the match saving tackle three metres from the tryline.

Bellville were unable to recycle the ball and were awarded a five-yard scrum. From the scrum they went blind and were held up over the SACS line at which point the referee blew the final whistle. A draw or win for Bellville-Tech may have been a fair result as they played the better rugby for long periods in the game.

Missing their captain Matthew Mellville and coming off tough matches against Paarl Boishaai and Tonbridge in midweek the SACS team looked flat on the day and produced an error-ridden display. Bellville-Tech started the game well and applied early pressure. They were unable to convert the pressure to points thanks to some solid SACS defence and poor kicking by fullback Clay Haupt who missed two penalties.

SACS also missed two penalties in the first half but from the second they scored their first try. Bellville kicked the ball back at SACS after Stuart Boliter was short with a long-range penalty kick. SACS produced a good counter-attack, which was rounded off by centre Godfrey Tundube. Michael Mohle failed to convert.

Just before the halftime interval Bellville responded with a good try of their own. Livewire Flyhalf Chesten Langenhoven, who had broken the line on a couple of occasion already with his nifty footwork, again broke clear. He timed his pass inside to his halfback partner Grant Alexander perfectly and he was able to race through for the score. Haupt was on target, this time from right in front, to see Bellville in the lead at the interval.

Just after halftime SACS created two good scoring opportunities. Both times the ball was worked right to wing Abduragmaan Wise but both times he was unable to get over the line. The first time his foot was adjudged to have gone into touch as he dived for the line and the second time the referee adjudged a previous pass to have been marginally forward. Piling on the pressure though SACS scored thanks to a well-executed set move from a scrum. Centre Godfrey Tundube running a good hard line off the shoulder of Mohle to score under the sticks. Mohle converted to see SACS 12-7 ahead.

SACS turned over a lot of ball in the second half and Bellville attacked with relish and at times is seemed inevitable they would sneak a win. Reduced to fourteen men after Chad Lawson was shown red for a tip-tackle the SACS supporters were willing the clock to run down. The game finish with a thrilling climax as Nicholas van der Westhuizen produced a moment of inspiration that will long be remembered by SACS supporters.

Scorers:

SACS

Tries: Godfrey Tundube (2)

Conversion: Michael Mohle

Bellville-Tech

Try: Grant Alexander

Conversion: Clay Haupt

Thanks to Graeme Wepener for this report.