In a highly anticipated annual rugby fixture, Union High School, Graaff-Reinet’s 1st XV clashed with Stirling this past Saturday, 20 April, in East London.
1st XV vs Stirling:
The match kicked off with Union’s 1st XV showing immense vigour and determination, eager to secure a victory. However, a costly mistake early on allowed Stirling to pounce, securing their first try of the game and putting Union on the backfoot.
Despite the setback, Union rallied and managed to convert a penalty kick, narrowing Stirling’s lead to 3-7. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠-𝙖𝙣𝙙-𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡. A try by Shaakir Kazi injected a burst of energy into the Union side, bringing the score to 10-12, still in favour of Stirling.
As the first half drew to a close, Stirling capitalized on an opportunity, scoring another try just before halftime, extending their lead to 10-17.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴, 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.
The game continued to be a seesaw battle, with both teams fighting tooth and nail for dominance. Another try by Stirling, due to a lapse in concentration, pushed the score to 17-29. Yet, Union’s spirit remained unbroken, as evidenced by Peter Michaels’ second individual try, bringing the final score to 22-29 in favour of Stirling.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀:
• 2nd XV lost 40-3
• u/16 lost 20-0
• u/15 lost 62-5
• u/14 lost 68-0
(𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴.)