Kingswood beat Stirling by 10 points in an entertaining game that had the home supporters holding their breaths.
Kingswood beat Stirling by 10 points in an entertaining game that had the home supporters holding their breaths.
The home team powered over the line twice in the first quarter of the game, with Rhett Shillaw scoring the first try for Kingswood as Laine Collett converted. Steven Loock scored the second try, soon after the restart. Stirling's set pieces were dysfunctional for much of the first half and easily handed possession over to the home team.
The bulk of the hard work was done by the forwards for Stirling. They dominated the ruck area and contact zones making it difficult for Kingswood to always get quick ball. Within a very short period the visitors silenced the crowd with two tries that brought them back into the game. Before the half was done, Stirling scored their third.
Kingswood went into the change rooms trailing by three points. In the second half, the home team started with more verve, with their hard-playing flyhalf, Lihleli Xoli, running through the opposition easily. The visitors continued to apply pressure, however, and enjoyed a fair share of possession and territory. Ironically, Kingswood made the more decisive breaks in mid field.
Essentially, the game was between the quick Kingswood backline and the feisty Stirling forwards. Unfortunately for the visitors, Kingswood's big men eventually came to the party, which made it possible for their backline to cut gaping holes in Stirling's defence.
The home fans were given a reason to cheer when Kingswood captain, Ruru Msutu, scored to give Kingswood the lead. Kingswood flyhalf Lihleli Xoli continued to dictate proceedings when he stretched the home team's lead by three points, by scoring a neat drop goal.
Stirling pulled one back soon after, with an unconverted try that tied the scores at 22. In the end, Kingswood’s advantage was their backline that stayed on top of the visitors all afternoon. The final 10 minutes of the game belonged to the Kingswood team, as wave after wave of attack on the Stirling try-line led to a try by Anselm Castelyn, which Collett converted.
Collett added a further penalty in the dying minutes of the game. Meanwhile, St Andrew's College 1sts lost 15-28 to Queens in Queenstown on Saturday, and Graeme College 1sts beat the Alexander Road side 55-3 in Port Elizabeth. The PJ 1sts rugby match against De Vos Malan was cancelled by De Vos Malan due to exams.
