The much anticipated Westville vs Hilton rugby clash marked the official opening of the rugby season for both schools. A capacity crowd were treated to an exciting and uncompromising contest between two of KZN’s top tier rugby schools.

Westville had dominated most of the day’s rugby proceedings leading up to the 1st XV showdown, with most matches going their way, having recorded fifteen wins out of eighteen matches played.

In the 1st XV game, Hilton kicked off and managed to pin Westville down deep in their half. Westville managed to absorb the pressure with some excellent offensive/ defensive tackling.  Hilton  conceded a penalty which was within striking range of  Westville’s fullback Louis Snyman’s  boot and took Westville to an early 3 point lead.

Hilton kicked a penalty of their own when  Westville were caught offside at the breakdown. Hilton’s Captain, Cameron Wright converted the penalty and levelled the scores at 3 all.

A fumble with the ball by WBHS outside centre Bradley Ellse which then bounced favourably for the visitors saw a try for Hilton. An easy conversion saw Hilton move into a 10-3 lead.

Westville, hungry for points and eager to gain the ascendency, demolished Hilton’s scrum and allowed their open side flank and captain Andre de la Rey the opportunity to charge down Hilton’s clearance kick. The charge down was successful and the ball bounced into the hands of Juan Anderson who dotted the ball down under the poles and opened Westville’s try scoring account levelling the scores at 10-10. Hilton seemed to become rattled  and after several  infringements  conceded a penalty which Westville’s Louis Snyman converted  to take his team into a three point  lead at half time.

 

Speed and skills

The second half began with the same ferocious tempo that was evident in the first half but the score remained unchanged until  with five minutes of play left,  McHardy put a box kick over Hilton’s defensive wall. The ball was allowed to bounce and when Hilton’s fullback failed to control the ball, Westville’s flyhalf Matthew Larkins capitalized on the error, scooped up the ball and scored a try under the poles. Louis Snyman converted the try taking Westville into a commanding ten point lead with only 2 minutes left.

When the final whistle blew, Westville had emerged as 20-10 victors.

Credit must be given to both teams for the manner in which the game was played, although hard and uncompromising it was extremely exciting and played in the right spirit, as should always be the case in school boy rugby.

 

                      FULL RESULTS BELOW:

 

Team

Coach

Opposition

Referee

Date

Time

Venue

Result

OPEN   AGE GROUP

1st XV

Bell / Sorensen Hilton 1st XV SOCIETY

Sat 16/3

15h30

Bowden’s 1

20 – 10

2nd XV

J. van Aswegen    / Zulu Hilton 2nd XV SOCIETY

Sat 16/3

14h10

Bowden’s 1

6 – 3 

3rd XV

Stewart Hilton 3rd XV du Plessis

Sat 16/3

11h50

Bowden’s 1

34 – 3

4th XV

Jackson Hilton 4th XV van der Linde

Sat 16/3

10h40

Bowden’s 1

29 – 26

5th XV

Mxoli Hilton 5th XV Stewart

Sat 16/3

09h30

Bowden’s 1

22 – 12

6th XV

M. van Aswegen Hilton 6th XV Jackson

Sat 16/3

13h30

Bowden’s 2

52 – 5

7th XV

Hayles Hilton 7th XV Havemann

Sat 16/3

12h30

Bowden’s 2

0 – 10

8th XV

Boden

CANCELLED

WIN: 6     LOSE: 1     DRAW: 0

U16   AGE GROUP

16A

Norris Hilton 16A SOCIETY

Sat 16/3

13h00

Bowden’s 1

19 – 8

16B

Buys Hilton 16B Zulu

Sat 16/3

10h30

Bowden’s 2

7 – 22

16C

M. Van Aswegen Hilton 16C van der Linde

Sat 16/3

09h30

Bowden’s 2

15 – 5

16D

van der Linde Hilton 16D van Rensburg

Sat 16/3

13h30

Common’s 1

37 – 5

16E

Joubert

BYE

16F

Nkosi

BYE

WIN: 3     LOSE: 1     DRAW: 0

U15   AGE GROUP

15A

Sweet Hilton 15A SOCIETY

Sat 16/3

12h30

Common’s 1

24 – 11

15B

Hoyer Hilton 15B J. van Aswegen

Sat 16/3

11h30

Common’s 1

19 – 5

15C

Grey Hilton 15C Sweet

Sat 16/3

10h30

Common’s 1

21 – 12

15D

McIvor/Gouws Hilton 15D Hoyer

Sat 16/3

09h30

Common’s 1

51 – 0

15E

Makheta Toti 15A Toti Referee

Sat 16/3

09h00

Toti Main

7 – 36

15F

Commins

BYE

WIN: 4     LOSE: 1     DRAW: 0

U14   AGE GROUP

14A

Zulu Hilton 14A SOCIETY

Sat 16/3

12h30

Common’s 2

10 – 13

14B

Cash Hilton 14B M. van Aswegen

Sat 16/3

11h30

Common’s 2

46 – 10

14C

van Rensburg Hilton 14C du Plessis

Sat 16/3

10h30

Common’s 2

50 – 0

14D

du Plessis Hilton 14D Cash

Sat 16/3

09h30

Common’s 2

49 – 0

14E

Sukude Toti 14A Toti Referee

Sat 16/3

08h00

Toti Main

10 – 7

14F

Young

BYE

14G

Moller

BYE

WIN: 4     LOSE: 1     DRAW: 0

SCHOOL   TOTAL:     PLAYED: 21     WIN: 17     LOSE: 4     DRAW: 0