AFTER a nail-biting finish which saw Glenwood High School score an after the hooter win against Westville during the pre-season Port Natal Series final in February, it was the highly motivated Westville who turned the tables and recorded a memorable 18-17 win against their hosts in Durban’s biggest inter-schools rugby rivalry.
A big crowd had gathered for Glenwood’s Old Boys day and was treated to all the elements that make schoolboy rugby the most exciting rugby package in South Africa at the moment.
Glenwood got off to a flying start and scored a 4th minute try. It all really started when Westville attempted to carry the ball up from inside their own 22m but ran into trouble after Glenwood players arrived quickly and in numbers to effect the turnover at the tackled ball position.
The ball found its way into midfield where a useful chip ‘n chase by Glenwood centre Donovan du Randt, forced Westville’s pressured sweeper Brogan Boulle to carry the ball back over his own line and concede a 5m scrum. The set piece provided the springboard for impressive no. 8 Marco Palvie to make his first meaningful ball-in-hand contribution. His onslaught was quickly followed by prop Christopher Klopper’s angled power run to get over for the try. Fly half Jerome Bossr converted to make it 7-0.
Westville opened their own account in the 8th minute via fly half Neil van Rooyen’s penalty, after scrumhalf Bryce Kitching’s quick tap and go had won his team an extra 10m as a result of Glenwood not retreating the required distance before engaging.
A try in the 27th minute saw the visitors taking the lead for the first time, a position they held onto for the rest of the match.
Glenwood had opportunity to regain the lead a few minutes late after a poor exit had the well-positioned Palvie collecting and charging back at full tilt. The in-from no.8 wasn’t given free rein to sow his seeds of destruction during this game as a result of very committed defending but on this occasion, the carry led to an offside at the ruck penalty against the visitors, from which Bossr missed the kick at goal.
In the 32nd minute, Westville, who had enjoyed a noticeable territorial advantage during the half, extended their lead via try number two.
The referee endorsed the new playing time rules introduced for school rugby this season, which saw the game continuing well beyond the 35-minute running time mark and Glenwood nearly profited from a poor exit by fullback Shane Ball, which triggered a good run by his opposite number Jayden Morgan, who provided spark on attack at different times during the match.
At halftime it was 15-10 to Westville and three minutes after the break, Van Rooyen landed a penalty to grow Westville’s lead to 18-10.
During a passage of play started around the 10th minute of the half, Glenwood came up with a series of offensives which caused Westville a lot of distress and led to numerous penalties being awarded to Glenwood, including one that appeared to be for a cynical knock-down very near the try-line. Glenwood resisted the urge to go for goal and instead tried to reduce the two score deficit via lineouts and tap ‘n go takes.
The likes of Palvie, Klopper and Bossr all had goes at the line and but were stopped by a gutsy and organised defence. The end result was that Glenwood crucially did not come away with a single point from this attacking stanza.
Unlike earlier in the half, Glenwood now had little choice but to tap ‘n go from penalties. Palvie again showed up with a big carry but he was held up over the line by Westville’s dogged tacklers. One good rolling maul, along with more bashes and snipes at the try-line continued for the next few minutes, with several Glenwood players dropping the ball at critical times.
Westville finally had an opportunity to clear the danger from a 5m scrum but decided to attempt a rather adventurous blindside run from behind their own goal-line. The pass was however a poor one and dropped, requiring the off-balance athletic Ball to improvise with a spectacular acrobatic kick to save blushes. The freakish kick ended up in the middle of the 22m area where a Glenwood player caught it and drove forward. Finally the home team got rewarded for all their red-zone pressure when flank Alex Brummer crossed the line with a lot of effort. Bossr converted to make it a one-point game at 18-17.
