The Kingswood First Team rugby took on Port Rex in East London on Saturday 19 May. In a strong performance from the visiting side, Kingswood managed to dominate the majority of the match against their hosts.
Kingswood were unable to convert their early pressure into points on the scoreboard. Port Rex showed incredible resilience on defence and it was only after 17 minutes in the 1st half that Kingswood managed to cross over for the first try of the match. Flyhalf Jared Manus made a break on the Port Rex 22 metre line and showed off some fancy footwork to score under the poles. Manus converted his own try. Soon after the restart Kingswood were awarded a penalty which Manus converted to push the scoreline out 10-0 to Kingswood.
Just before the end of the first half, Kingswood, led by their dominant forward pack, managed to put a few phases together and again it was Jared Manus who went through a half gap before he offloaded to Hilton Krige who crashed over for Kingswood’s second try. Manus was successful with his second conversion, meaning that Kingswood led 17-0 at half time.
The second half started with Kingswood launching a counter attack from their own try line. Some fantastic inter-play between the backs and forwards saw Athi Galada dot down under the poles for a try which was converted by Manus. Kingswood were now leading 24-0 and were firmly in control. Unfortunately for the spectators, most of the play in the 2nd half was filled with frustrating mistakes from both sides which resulted in a very stop start game.
With five minutes left in the game, Port Rex capitalized on a poor lineout from Kingswood and were able to cross over for a converted try. Kingswood hit back immediately, however, with a converted try by Camagu Kahla which resulted in Kingswood winning the match 31-7.
Scorers:
Tries: Jared Manus, Hilton Krige, Athi Galada, Camagu Kahla
Conversions: Jared Manus 4
Penalty: Jared Manus 1
