The search is on for next year's first-team school rugby players and St Andrew's have made an early start by putting their upcoming players through their paces. To this end, they hosted Mary Waters High in a friendly last Wednesday, fielding a team that was a mix of Grade 10s and 11s from their second, third and fourth teams.
The search is on for next year's first-team school rugby players and St Andrew's have made an early start by putting their upcoming players through their paces. To this end, they hosted Mary Waters High in a friendly last Wednesday, fielding a team that was a mix of Grade 10s and 11s from their second, third and fourth teams.
Wet and muddy conditions were not conducive to strategic, Test-match-type rugby, and play commenced with the ball slipping and players sliding all over the field. St Andrew's rose to the challenge, though, with a 53-12 win.
Tyron Louw, the St Andrew's coach, was impressed overall with the players performance but described the first half of the game as "loose and unstructured", as this was the first time that the team had played together.
Mary Waters gained some ground in the first half, scoring two tries and landing one conversion, ensuring that by the middle of the first half, the score was a close 17-12 to St Andrew's.
Prop Tevin Pillay and eighth man Dylan Daniels took advantage to score once each for Mary Waters.
As the game progressed, however, the boys in blue-and-white came together and their play tightened up.
Mary Waters struggled for possession, and when they did get to the ball, it was neatly intercepted.
St Andrew's scrumhalf Andrew Rushmere scored the first try in the first few minutes of the game and went on to score another two – he controlled most of the game.
Eighth man Xhanti Mahlangeni also played well, scoring three tries.
Joseph Speckman, the visiting team’s coach, pointed to his squad’s lack of fitness, as his players hadn't had much time to train together this term.
The high calibre of St Andrew's rugby players in the second, third and fourth teams, evident from this match, means that the 2012 rugby season looks promising.
