Some people wanted to call off the Kingswood and Graeme College rugby games on Saturday as rain turned games into mud bath wrestles on the pitch. Yhis didn't stop the school boys from marching onto the field and giving it their all, however, and of course their eager supporters came out armed with umbrellas too.
Some people wanted to call off the Kingswood and Graeme College rugby games on Saturday as rain turned games into mud bath wrestles on the pitch. Yhis didn't stop the school boys from marching onto the field and giving it their all, however, and of course their eager supporters came out armed with umbrellas too.
Throughout last week Graeme College and Victoria Girls' High School took up arms against Kingswood College in their annual derby, with the rugby taking place at Graeme, and netball and hockey games being played at Kingswood.
Derby activities began on Wednesday with the boys' hockey matches that saw Graeme and Kingswood each notching up a win.
Netball matches on Friday really saw the derby come to life as the enthusiastic VGHS pupils cheered tirelessly for their sides. Kingswood dominated the netball though, winning all five matches including a 34-20 win for the first team.
The action continued on Saturday morning with the girls' hockey players and rugby boys braving the miserable weather. The Kingswood girls' U13A hockey side proved too strong for their Victoria Primary counterparts, winning the match 6-0. In the first-team hockey clash, VG took an early lead, which they managed to hold on to for most of the match.
The Kingswood girls were awarded plenty of short corners but the VG defence held firm. They couldn't hold strong forever though, and in the final minutes of the game Kingswood scored from two of these short corners to win 2-1.
Out of eleven hockey games, Kingswood won eight and drew two. Graeme juniors dominated the rugby, showing guts and determination to power through the Kingswood defence and hurtling into some big tackles. Graeme U13A won their game 55-0, while Kingswood U11A won 22-20.
Graeme seniors won five of the nine rugby encounters, which also included a 22-12 win for the U14A side. Kingswood seconds won their game 32-0, after leading 5-0 at the half-time break.
Despite the intermittent rain on Saturday, parents, pupils and other die-hard school rugby supporters couldn't be kept away, and a scene of opening and closing umbrellas was visible until the first rugby clash, which began in heavy rain.
It died down to a drizzle for a while and in the final minutes of the match the sun came out. Graeme beat Kingswood 15-11 in this first-team final and while many complained that the weather conditions weren't ideal, one can't underestimate the value of getting experience like this, especially if players hope to play in the big leagues one day.
