The last time Michaelhouse played, at Westville Boys’ High, they suffered a big loss. After level-pegging 19-19 with the home side 10 minutes into the second half, they were swamped by the Griffins‘ devastating counterattacks, going down 19-52. The challenge doesn’t get any easier on Saturday, but they’ll be at home, hosting Maritzburg College on Meadows at 14:15
The Red, Black, and White presents a different challenge. They play a tighter game than Westville, but they play it very well, and their team cohesion is impressive.
Captain Rory Stanton and company are the only unit that has stopped Hilton College, Michaelhouse’s great rivals, this season. College won 14-9 on their Old Boys’ Weekend. Meanwhile, when ‘House faced Hilton on Gilfillan Field at the beginning of May, it took a last-gasp penalty for Hilton to hold onto their clean record.
Both College and Michaelhouse have faced DHS, another team with a similar approach to their own. ‘House fell 20-26 to the Horseflies in their opening match of the season on the DHS stronghold, Van Heerden’s Field, while College edged out DHS 18-17 at the Sharks Schools Rugby Day, on Gilfillan Field, on 9 May.
What this suggests is that a very tight game awaits on Saturday in Balgowan. While Westville was hugely impressive in their win this past Saturday, that result was an outlier in Michaelhouse’s season.
They lost 19-28 to Grey High, losing steam in the second half of that contest, after leading 19-15. Their other defeats were far tighter. Apart from the six-point loss to DHS and their two-point loss at Hilton, they also lost by one to Kearsney. They’re going to be in the contest until the final whistle.
College has found a rich vein of form and has now won five matches on the trot, beating St Charles, DHS, Northwood, Hilton, and Kearsney during that run.
They were pushed hard last Saturday by Kearsney on Stott Field, in Botha’s Hill, where the One-Stripe scored four tries to three, but College won 24-22. One of their strengths this season has been the accurate boot of Dom du Toit, and it proved pivotal in that clash, as the Sharks’ Craven Week scrumhalf converted all three tries, including one from the touchline, and slotted a penalty.
Coach Hendré Marnitz believes Du Toit is the best kicker in the country, and the no. 9 has the success rate to back up that assertion.
But there is a lot more to College. Their loose trio is really a loose quintet; Rory Stanton, Caleb Sweetnam, and David Colenbrander are down and dirty workhorses in the best traditions of the Red, Black, and White, and they enjoy outstanding support from hooker, Theo Boshoff, who is a high-impact player, contributing immensely all around the field.
Lock Sean Jansen has come into his own, and he has recently developed a welcome habit of try scoring, too. Apart from Boshoff and Jansen, tighthead prop Alande Ngubane has proved to be a consistent threat for Maritzburg College from close range.
Michaelhouse’s tighthead, captain Nicolas Salamousas, is also a powerful ball carrier. Together with Max Oliva and Aphelele Chamane, he gives ‘House an outstanding front row.
The red and white hoops are also feisty in the loose. Oliver Guy is an experienced campaigner at no. 8, while flank Jed Reilly has enjoyed a good season, producing some highlight reel tries. They’re joined by Calum van Zyl on Saturday.
The halfback pairing of Ben Hughes and Jack Carmody gets the backline moving nicely. Outside of them, Alex Jankowitz and Fabiano Fierro are a solid pair who will face a tough physical challenge from College’s Brett Smith and Olwethu Kosani.
Among the two back threes, the Red, Black, and White’s fullback, Sandiswa Hadebe, is the biggest X-Factor, although it was Matthew Harris who had himself a memorable outing against Kearsney, crossing for two very well-taken tries.
It should be a very physical, high-quality game on Meadows.
Teams:
Michaelhouse: 15 Reece Cole, 14 Laird Hamilton-Brown, 13 Fabiano Fierro, 12 Alex Jankowitz, 11 Banathi Sabelo, 10 Jack Carmody, 9 Ben Hughes, 8 Oliver Guy, 7 Jed Reilly, 6 Calum van Zyl, 5 Oliver Vickery, 4 Reese Hill, 3 Nicolas Salamousas, 2 Max Oliva, 1 Aphelele Chamane.
Maritzburg College: 15 Sandiswa Hadebe, 14 Sakhokuhle Xaba, 13 Olwethu Kosani, 12 Brett Smith, 11 Matthew Harris, 10 Luthando Dladla, 9 Dom du Toit, 8 Rory Stanton, 7 Caleb Sweetnam, 6 David Colenbrander, 5 Joshua Thompson, 4 Sean Jansen, 3 Alande Ngubane, 2 Theo Boshoff, 1 Mzwamandla Manana.
