Durban High School held on by the skin of their teeth to take down rivals Maritzburg College by 14-7 in the Sportsmans Warehouse Premier Interschools first team rugby clash at DHS on Saturday.
These two traditional rivals fought tooth and nail with Durban High School coming up trumps in a titanic clash, with solid defence playing a key part in their victory.
Tries from DHS flanker Dale Hendrikse and scrumhalf Florensen Ockhuis sealed the win for the home side in a match that ended in dramatic fashion.
The final five minutes saw College piling on the pressure in a desperate search for the tying score, while DHS relied on solid defence to pull them through.
College thought they scored their second try through eighth man, Sasha Kadira, in the last minute of the match, but referee, Cameron Smith, stated that the ball was held up.
Kadira and his College teammates were in disbelief as a possible game-changing try was denied.
DHS had most of the territory in the first 10 minutes and were duly rewarded when openside flanker Dale Hendrikse scored under the posts. This was largely due to terrific hands from tighthead, Simphiwe Ngobese, who got the pass away to Hendricks with sublime timing. Deano Boesak slotted the conversion for a 7-0 lead after 12 minutes.
DHS strengthened their grip on the match only five minutes later after capitalising on an error from College flyhalf, Luc du Toit. Du Toit failed to find touch with a penalty which resulted in DHS gaining possession of the ball. Ngobese made another storming run, before an offload to scrumhalf Florensen Ockhuis started a magical piece of individual brilliance. Ockhuis sidestepped numerous College defenders to score a superb 22-metre solo try. Boesak slotted the conversion for a deserved 14-0 lead.
The boys in navy blue had numerous opportunities to extend the lead, but College’s defence held firm to keep them in the game. The halftime whistle sounded with DHS being the happier of the two schools with a 14-0 lead.
Maritzburg College showed improved initiative in the second half and camped out in DHS’s 22 for the seven minutes. Colm Reardon knocked on after solid DHS defence and Jake Jansen was kept millimetres from a try as he was held up.
Persistence eventually paid off with Phiwayinkosi Kubheka powering through three defenders to score Maritzburg College’s opening try in the 47th minute. Du Toit slotted the conversion to narrow the gap to a converted try.
College suddenly had momentum on their side with fullback, Luyanda Kunene, making a couple of dangerous breaks in attack. College though just could not find the final pass to close the gap.
Both schools’ handling errors also let them down in a scrappy second half as the excessive humidity sapped the energy from the players.
DHS managed to defend for their lives in front of home support to gain the win. Overall, DHS used their opportunities in attack and deserved to keep the Skonk Nicholson trophy in their cabinet based on the 70 minutes of play.
Sportsmans Warehouse Man of the Match:Dale Hendrikse (7) – Durban High School
Scorers:
Durban High School: - Tries:Dale Hendrikse, Florensen Ockhuis. Conversions: Deano Boesak (2/2)
Maritzburg College: - Tries:Phiwayinkosi Kubheka. Conversion: Luc du Toit (1/1)