A valiant effort from Queen’s College was not enough to end Grey High School’s unbeaten run as the hosts edged an entertaining encounter 24-22 in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Grey were expected to claim a comfortable win over Queens but a superb forward effort from Queens gave their backs freedom to attack and in the end they almost managed a massive upset.
Queens flank Siya Jwacu, hooker Gareth Heidtmann and eighthman Siya Matanda put in massive shifts, while scrumhalf Edumisa Njumba was a livewire throughout.
Grey’s best efforts came from their backs, where scrumhalf Runaldo Pedro shone, while centres Waqar Solaan and Ayabonga Matroos, and fullback Enrique Franks impressed.
Rain earlier in the day and a stiff breeze made for tricky conditions.
A penalty in the seventh minute in the Queen’s 22 saw Grey kick to touch and try to maul it over, but having been stopped short the forwards took a couple of cracks before Pedro picked up the ball at the base of a ruck and dived over.
Flyhalf LJ du Preez slotted the conversion to give the hosts a 7-0 lead within the first 10 minutes. In the 15th minute Queen’s were punished when a failed clearance from their own 22 allowed Grey to come storming back, with Bevan Prinsloo receiving an offload before crashing over for an unconverted try.
Another Queen’s mistake saw Grey extend their lead. A bad pass went to ground and Grey hacked the ball ahead twice, allowing Matroos to pick up the ball near the line and run in under the poles untouched.
Du Preez’s conversion put Grey 19-0 up in the 23rd minute.
From the restart Queen’s took play into Grey’s 22 and put massive pressure on the Grey line. Finally the pressure told when Queen’s received a penalty and chose a 5m scrum, with Matanda picking up off the back, popping the ball to Njumba on the blind side, whose pass found wing Asi Malotana, who went over in the corner. Flyhalf Keith Kroutz missed the conversion.
After again breaking into Grey’s 22, Queen’s kept it tight before Matanda crashed over for another unconverted try, leaving the score at 19-10 at the break. Rain came bucketing down in the break, but that didn’t stop Grey from coming out firing to score within two minutes to give themselves some breathing room.
A yellow card for repeated infringements to Grey lock Aaron Brody in the 42nd minute gave Queen some impetus, and they scored two tries while he was off the field. First, from a defensive scrum on their own 5m line, Prinsloo tried to pick up the ball but spilt it backwards, allowing the alert Njumba to dive on the ball over the tryline for an unconverted score.
Then, in the 49th minute Queens wing Tumelo Montisi received the ball at pace on Grey’s 22 and ghosted through forwards to score to the right of the posts, with Kroutz’s conversion making it 24-22.
Other results over the weekend saw Grens beat Cambridge 26-12, Dale beat Muir 48-22, Stirling beat Kingswood 21-3, Hudson draw 12-12 with Graeme and Selborne go down to St Andrew’s 26-5.
Queens edged by Grey in thriller
Grey were expected to claim a comfortable win over Queens but a superb forward effort from Queens gave their backs freedom to attack and in the end they almost managed a massive upset.
Queens flank Siya Jwacu, hooker Gareth Heidtmann and eighthman Siya Matanda put in massive shifts, while scrumhalf Edumisa Njumba was a livewire throughout.
Grey’s best efforts came from their backs, where scrumhalf Runaldo Pedro shone, while centres Waqar Solaan and Ayabonga Matroos, and fullback Enrique Franks impressed.
Rain earlier in the day and a stiff breeze made for tricky conditions.
A penalty in the seventh minute in the Queen’s 22 saw Grey kick to touch and try to maul it over, but having been stopped short the forwards took a couple of cracks before Pedro picked up the ball at the base of a ruck and dived over.
Flyhalf LJ du Preez slotted the conversion to give the hosts a 7-0 lead within the first 10 minutes. In the 15th minute Queen’s were punished when a failed clearance from their own 22 allowed Grey to come storming back, with Bevan Prinsloo receiving an offload before crashing over for an unconverted try.
Another Queen’s mistake saw Grey extend their lead. A bad pass went to ground and Grey hacked the ball ahead twice, allowing Matroos to pick up the ball near the line and run in under the poles untouched.
Du Preez’s conversion put Grey 19-0 up in the 23rd minute.
From the restart Queen’s took play into Grey’s 22 and put massive pressure on the Grey line. Finally the pressure told when Queen’s received a penalty and chose a 5m scrum, with Matanda picking up off the back, popping the ball to Njumba on the blind side, whose pass found wing Asi Malotana, who went over in the corner. Flyhalf Keith Kroutz missed the conversion.
After again breaking into Grey’s 22, Queen’s kept it tight before Matanda crashed over for another unconverted try, leaving the score at 19-10 at the break. Rain came bucketing down in the break, but that didn’t stop Grey from coming out firing to score within two minutes to give themselves some breathing room.
A yellow card for repeated infringements to Grey lock Aaron Brody in the 42nd minute gave Queen some impetus, and they scored two tries while he was off the field. First, from a defensive scrum on their own 5m line, Prinsloo tried to pick up the ball but spilt it backwards, allowing the alert Njumba to dive on the ball over the tryline for an unconverted score.
Then, in the 49th minute Queens wing Tumelo Montisi received the ball at pace on Grey’s 22 and ghosted through forwards to score to the right of the posts, with Kroutz’s conversion making it 24-22.
Other results over the weekend saw Grens beat Cambridge 26-12, Dale beat Muir 48-22, Stirling beat Kingswood 21-3, Hudson draw 12-12 with Graeme and Selborne go down to St Andrew’s 26-5.
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