Three Allen Glen teams in finals, but firsts bow out
The first team crashed out of the competition after a hard loss to Hoërskool Wolmaransstad; however, all the age group sides progressed.
Allen Glen High School saw three of their four sides progress to the finals of the inaugural Championship Trophy following victories against Hoërskool Zeerust on Saturday, 11 August.
Yet another historic day for Allen Glen kicked off with the U/14 side tackling the challenge from Hoërskool Zeerust. They gave Allen Glen the best start imaginable in an incredibly tough game that constantly went back and forth, culminating in a nail-biting 25–22 victory.
The U/15 side put up a slightly more dominant display against Zeerust, and were able to win by a much bigger margin, running out 28–10 victors.
Allen Glen’s day continued going from strength to strength, with yet another good performance from the U/16 side. The game ended in a bit of controversy however, as the referee seemed to let the game continue for 12 minutes too long. Allen Glen managed to hold on for the victory despite a late resurgence from Zeerust in the extra time.
Finally, came the first team game against Hoërskool Wolmaransstad which looked set to be the match of the day. Sadly that all changed in the first 10 minutes of the game, as the Wollies blindside flank (number 6) received a yellow card for a ‘no arms clean out’ in a ruck within the first two minutes, ensuring that one of Allen Glen’s locks would be out for the rest of the game.
Allen Glen’s second starting lock was also taken off shortly thereafter after a hard tackle from Wollies. The first 10 minutes of the game were crucial to how the rest of the match would play out as Wollies firmly established a huge physical presence on the field.
Wollies’ strong physical presence seemed to rattle the Allen Glen players as they became afraid of taking the ball into contact, and were therefore unable to play their usual brand of running rugby.
The rest of the game was dominated by Wollies as Allen Glen struggled to establish themselves on the field. Despite a late resurgence from Allen Glen as Wollies started getting too tired to keep up with Allen Glen’s speed, Wollies ran out 40–21 victors.
The U/14 side will be taking on Hoërskool Wolmaransstad, the U/15 side will play against Hoër Tegniese Skool Klerksdorp, and the U/16 team tackles Hoërskool President, with all games taking place at Hoërskool Zeerust on Saturday, 18 August.
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