Against considerable odds, Nathaniel Nyaluza High School won the runners-up section of the Dennis Botha Memorial Tournament last weekend.
Nathaniel Nyaluza's first match was against Spandau Senior Secondary School, of Graaff-Reinet, who were the eventual winners of the three-day tournament. After the first round of matches at the Mdantsane NU1 Stadium in East London, the winners and top two losing teams went on to compete for the Cup competition.
Against considerable odds, Nathaniel Nyaluza High School won the runners-up section of the Dennis Botha Memorial Tournament last weekend.
Nathaniel Nyaluza's first match was against Spandau Senior Secondary School, of Graaff-Reinet, who were the eventual winners of the three-day tournament. After the first round of matches at the Mdantsane NU1 Stadium in East London, the winners and top two losing teams went on to compete for the Cup competition.
The remaining teams battled it out in the runners-up section and it was this that Nathaniel Nyaluza won against Maria Louw High School of Queenstown. A new set of rugby kit was their prize.
"The tournament was really hard, as all the teams participating came prepared," said Captain of the Nathaniel Nyaluza side, Monwabisi Nqowana.
The tournament featured 11 of the finest rugby-playing black schools from around the Eastern Cape and given the Fingo Village school doesn't even have its own sports field, their section win was a considerable achievement.
The Nathaniel Nyaluza pupils practice at Egazini Stadium, a run-down community facility – open to everybody, but maintained by nobody.
The team, which has been rebuilding its strength since its all-matric complement left last year, has played its way through to the Sakhulutsha Sports Heritage Festival Tournament final, which will be played next week at JD Dlepu stadium.
A sixties rugby legend
According to the website rugby365, Dennis Botha, after whom the tournament was named, was a famous rugby player and a popular man in Mdantsane. He played rugby for Thembu United, Border and the African Springboks from 1959 to 1965, captaining the Springboks from 1963. His nickname was Bhokhwe – "the Springbok".
