Durban High School (DHS) defended an unbeaten record on Van Heerden’s Field, which has stood since May 2022, when they hosted Jeppe High School for Boys on Saturday. They came within seconds of losing it, with the clash ending in a heart-pounding 21-21 draw.
All credit to Jeppe. Held without a point in the first half, they were 0-15 behind at the break but dominated the second half, forcing DHS onto the defensive and placing them under heavy pressure.
In the opening stanza, the Horseflies appeared to be on course for a routine victory when they bounded those 15 points clear after 22 minutes.
Tanwill Onkers gave School the lead with a penalty in the 11th minute. Then, hooker Okuhle Mbanjwa was driven over from a rolling maul four minutes later. Onkers’ conversion attempt passed to the left of the uprights. That would prove to be consequential later in the contest.
Jeppe fought back strongly and had DHS scrambling with a searing attack, started by fullback Dalitso Milanzi, which took his team deep into the home side’s half. The visitors, though, were struck with a sucker punch when DHS turned over possession and swiftly moved the ball wide to the left, where wing Richard Gyamfi showed the cover defence a clean pair of heels to run in under the upright from 75 metres out.
Onkers slotted the simple conversion. It appeared that DHS had the measure of their determined opposition. Jeppe’s resolve was unbowed, though, and they played most of the remaining 13 minutes of the first half in School’s half.
Seven minutes into the second half, the visitors finally cracked the DHS defence. Fortuitously, an overthrown lineout on Jeppe’s 22 bounced up kindly for the visitors, and centre Ndimphiwe Mjiji claimed possession while denting the DHS defence. He fed flyhalf Luthando Marangxa, on his inside, and the no 10 took the ball up to within five metres of the try line.
Eventually, tighthead prop Kwazi Nyoka crashed over from a couple of metres out, and Marangxa added the extras to make it 15-7, which gave the scoreboard a very different complexion.
Jeppe continued to press hard, starving DHS of possession and forcing them to make tackle after tackle. The Durban boys stubbornly stood firm. Then, victory appeared to be heading the hosts’ way when substitute Dewaldo Bok knocked over a penalty five minutes from time. It was won by centre Nathan Aneke, who made a strong tackle after chasing a high-up-and-under, and his midfield partner, Sterling Padi, who forced the penalty for Jeppe holding onto the ball on the ground.
That proved to be the start of a crazy closing sequence.
From the kickoff, DHS missed the catch of the high kick. and they were made to pay as the ball was swiftly shovelled to Mjiji, who scorched down the left touchline to dive over in the corner for an immediate response.
Crucially, Marangxa added the difficult onversion kick to pull Jeppe within four points at 14-18.
With the game heading into the 69th minute, a DHS attack stalled when a pass went astray, with Jeppe’s Phano Letsie hitting Bok as he was about to release a short pass. Letsie pounced, gathered possession, and started a counterattack on his side’s 10-metre line. The visitors attacked down the left. Then Marangxa lofted a cross-kick towards Prosper Mbandlwa, who caught the ball wide on the right, on the DHS 22.
He cut inside, wrong-footing the covering defence, and was over the try line, accompanied by a massive roar from the Jeppe supporters. As time ticked down, Jeppe added the extras, leaving them 21-18 ahead.
Time was almost up when the visitors safely fielded the kickoff, and eighthman Mihle Dyakala drove forward. When he was brought to ground, however, DHS fiercely contested the ruck and won a penalty.
Up stepped Bok, whose goal-kicking is his calling card. Coolly, the left-footer nailed the kick from 37 metres out, just to the right of the posts, and the referee blew the final whistle. It ended 21-21.
For a moment, both sets of players stood rooted to the spot, processing a stunning conclusion to the contest. Then, snapping out of it, congratulations followed a terrific battle.
Glenwood vs Northwood
CBS Sports likes to identify what they call a scorigami when reporting on the NFL. That’s when a score has never before been recorded in the history of the league.
On Saturday, on Dixon’s Field, there was, surely, a scorigami that had never before been recorded in the history of rugby, with Northwood beating Glenwood by an astonishing 82-23 margin.
The Knights ran in six tries in each half and converted 11 of those to charge to a big 59-point win. Despite that dominance, the Green Machine mustered 23 points of their own, crossing for two tries in the second half.
While Northwood only slightly shaded the possession stakes, they exhibited a cutting edge that Glenwood could not match.
The hosts took an early lead through a penalty kick by Vincenzo Loutz, but Northwood responded by building a 12-3 lead before Glenwood brought it back to 12-9 after 19 minutes. By the end of the half, though, the Knights led 40-9 after finishing it with a flurry of five-pointers from captain Jamie Wimble, Sheleni, Phinda Nkosi, Anesu Kuzonyei, and Zak Vrey.
Nala Shabangu scored the first try of the contest to get the visitors rolling. Then, Sondelani Sheleni missed a simple conversion kick, but that was the first and last miss of the game for the flyhalf.
Within three minutes of the start of the second half, Northwood added to their try-scoring tally, with scrumhalf Ludi van der Walt knifing through a gap.
Trailing 9-54, Glenwood finally broke through the visitors’ defence in the 48th minute, when captain Bona Chibane crashed over the try line from close range. Loutz converted with his trusty right boot.
Almost immediately, the Knights hit back through Sifiso Meyiwa, and he soon added another, which, with Sheleni’s conversion kick, lifted Northwood into a 68-16 lead.
Chibane powered over for a second try after 58 minutes, converted by Loutz, to boost Glenwood’s total to 23 points.
Northwood responded with further tries from Van der Walt, his second, and Meyiwa, his third, which completed the try-scoring.
With a try and 11 conversions, Northwood’s Sondelani Sheleni finished the game with a personal haul of 27 points.
Scorers:
Durban High School – Tries: Okuhle Mbanjwa, Richard Gyamfi. Conversion: Tanwill Onkers. Penalties: Dewaldo Bok (2), Tanwill Onkers. Jeppe High School for Boys – Tries: Kwazi Nyoka, Ndimphiwe Mjiji, Prosper Mbandlwa. Conversions: Luthando Marangxa (2), sub (22).
Glenwood – Tries: Bona Chibane (2). Conversions: Vincenzo Loutz (2). Penalty: Vincenzo Loutz (3). Northwood – Tries: Sifiso Meyiwa (3), Nala Shabangu (2), Ludi van der Walt (2), Jamie Wimble, Sondelani Sheleni, Phinda Nkosi, Anesu Kuzonyei, Zak Vrey. Conversions: Sondelani Sheleni (11).
Other results:
u19
II: DHS 33 Jeppe 22; Northwood 17 Glenwood 5; III: DHS 52-19 Jeppe; Glenwood 24 Northwood 12; IV: DHS 59 Jeppe 0; Northwood 67 Glenwood 5; V: DHS 22 Jeppe 12: Northwood 34 Glenwood 7,
u16
A: DHS 24 Jeppe 20; Northwood 45 Glenwood 25; B: DHS 26 Jeppe 12; Glenwood 14 Northwood 10; C: DHS 20 Jeppe 12; Northwood 57 Glenwood 7; D: DHS 21 Jeppe 12.
u15
A: DHS 21 Jeppe 10; Northwood 16 Glenwood 13; B: DHS 36 Jeppe 0; Northwood 21 Glenwood 5; C: DHS 47 Jeppe 14; Glenwood 24 Northwood 19; D: DHS 39 Jeppe 28.
u14
A: DHS 38 Jeppe 3; Northwood 26 Glenwood 5; B: DHS 54 Jeppe 0; Glenwood 27 Northwood 14; C: DHS 50 Jeppe 7; Glenwood 27 Northwood 14; D: DHS 50 Jeppe 14.
