St Johns Preparatory Rugby Festival

From the 17th – 21st of April, St Stithians U13 rugby were invited to the St Johns prep rugby festival. We were scheduled to play 3 schools: Maragon Private School, Orchards Primary School and Leeuwenhof Akademie.

(17 April) Saints 38 -14 Maragon

The match started off very evenly; both teams learning about each other's strengths and weaknesses. Each team trying its best to settle into a rhythm and to play according to their selective game plan. Maragon went into the lead at halftime, however, as the game progressed the "Saints machine" found its rhythm. What it took was time, initial defensive work and when our forwards carried the ball with bullish vigour running the large lads at Maragons defences, the try line opened. Hard work and some solid tackles meant that Saints managed to avoid letting Maragon have any dominance in the second half.

Confidence grew within the Saints team. The post-match feedback was energetic, high spirited with the coaches congratulating the boys and asking for more of the same for the next match against Orchards.

(19 April) Saints 17- 17 Orchards

However, with the increased confidence came the increased tally of mistakes: knock-ons and missed tackles.
Orchards put up a real fight, playing hard as a team. They managed to cast doubt in our team. We had to work hard to draw the game. Our boys learnt quickly that in rugby that size is not the only quality of a player.

Some consolidated thinking and some focus was required as we prepared for our last match.

(21 April) Saints 34-5 Leeuwenhof

We ran on as the underdogs, most people had written us off as Leeuwenhof were the festival favourites. They ran on with the same confidence we had during the Orchards game. One of the best performances put up by St Stithians rugby in a while was on display. The team worked as a superb unit with the forwards driving hard and the backline players putting in some sublime tackles as well as moving the ball to our electric wings. The effort by each player was greatly appreciated by the supporters as quality preparatory rugby was on display.
The values we link to sport; teamwork, support, hard work, motivation etc., were all shown by our boys, with us walking off the field humble in victory.
The festival was a true success, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We played three hard games of rugby and learnt a lot while doing so. Thank you to St Johns for inviting us and making sure we were well taken care of.

Our thanks must also go to the parents and staff who supported the boys.

Penson Mlotshwa / Karabo Makola & Jakes Fredericks