Grey College might have edged Paul Roos 36-35 in Stellenbosch, Rondebosch might have tamed visitors Wynberg 22-19 and Paarl Boys’ High might be celebrating a 22-13 away victory against HTS Drostdy, but the result of the weekend – some might say, the year – was SACS’s sensational 20-13 comeback over Bishops up in leafy Newlands.

Although the SACS game will, like the Grey College one, be covered more fully in separate articles, it does merit a few congratulatory words. The Young Ikeys were trailing their visitors 0-13 at the break when they turned things around in stunning style to take the laurels. Just bear in mind that they lost the Piley Rees fixture 27-68 in May! Things are really looking up for this young combination.

Rondebosch didn’t have things their own way at home against Wynberg, although they took the try count 3-2. The eventual three-point difference (22-19) between these two great rivals was as little as a dropped goal by ’Bosch’s polished pivot William Keet. Then again, if all the conversions in the game had gone over, the hosts would still have scraped in 24-23.

Boishaai qualified to host the Burger competition finals on Saturday 27 August when they managed to withstand a spirited performance by hosts HTS Drostdy up at Trappespark and run out 23-11 winners. Jean Nel and Anele Manengele dotted down for the Stepies and fullback Rhyno Smith did the rest, which included a dropped goal.

Boland Landbou did not have a happy Riversdale experience, finishing up on the sharp end of a 34-3 hiding. Given the Bulle’s current run of form, Saturday’s Burger final (re-)match against Boishaai at Brug Street is shaping up to be a titanic battle.  Their five tries should serve as a stern warning to the Strepies, who could muster only one against the same opponents a week earlier

Punt atoned for their 7-27 Burger semi-final defeat earlier in the week to Nico Malan by beating derby rivals Langenhoven Gym 18-13 on the latter’s field, star flyhalf Linden Rhode scoring all their points, which included two tries.

The Boland derbies tended to go the way of the visiting sides with Hugenote trouncing Swartland 32-10, Hermanus overcoming a spirited Overberg side16-10 and Stellenbosch outgunning Montana 27-22 in Worcester.

It’s a good thing it wasn’t Swartland flyhalf Warwick Philander’s birthday on Saturday as the poor lad didn’t make it to the party. In mitigation, it’s virtually impossible to give your three-quarters any sort of front-foot ball when your pack is being overwhelmed, but he didn’t help matters by missing an early sitter of a penalty and then getting yellow-carded for a high tackle later on.

The Blackies were dominant throughout, the big boys supplying captain and pivot Damian Cloete with a surfeit of clean possession. While their three-quarters ran strongly, ironically Cloete himself was the only back to cross the line when he charged down a clearance kick in the dying seconds of play. Destroyer-in-chief was No.8 Larnelle Maralack, who, although not a large lad, had a massive game, scoring three tries, the first two coming from pushovers by the pack. The 32-10 reflects Hugenote’s dominance pretty accurately.

Montana put up remarkable resistance before succumbing 22-27 to Stellenbosch on their ground next to the N1. The lads from Matieland outscored their hosts 4-3 in the try stakes, which meant that they were thankfully not reliant on the cultured boot of full back Charlton Coetzee.

Dirkie Uys was one home side that took its interschools, the Tigers handing out a 41-12 thumping to city bowl visitors Jan van Riebeeck. Fittingly, two of the heroes of the 2011 crop, centre Jason Kriel and scrumhalf Flippie Jacobs, each scored two tries, while tall flyhalf Du Toit Maree’s eleven points were the cherry on the top of a great season finale.
 
Out west Calvinia sprang something of a surprise by downing archrivals Vredendal 14-12, nearer the middle of the province Charlie Hofmeyr made rather light work, 29-8, of a Hopefield side that has faded noticeably towards the business end of the season, up north Montagu got the better of Langenhoven High 11-9, while just over the mountain Bonnievale beat hosts Goudini 19-5.

In the Western Province Premier league games it was pretty well business as usual. In close-fought derbies Strand beat Hottentots Holland 17-10, De Kuilen managed a 6-0 success against Worcester Gym and Monument Park made very heavy weather of ensuring that Vredenburg ended 2011 winless by beating the West Coasters 22-18.

In other games DF Malan held off hosts Milnerton 17-7, Bellville zapped Kasselsvlei 60-7 and Tygerberg went on their merry way, massacring HTS Bellville 82-15, registering twelve tries (numbers 109-120 for the year) in the oh-so-predictable process. Hey, the Tiere aren’t finished yet; they still have to host Brackenfell in their interschool jol on 27 August. 

In case you were interested in the trivia questions, Porterville (102) are still the only other side in the Western Cape to score a ton of tries and Durbanville (14 wins and one draw in 15 starts) have the best success rate (95.6%).

By Tony Stoops