With a very short turnaround from the Grey High tour, the DHS 1st XV made their way to Pietermaritzburg on Friday night to play against the much improved Voortrekker High School. The game proved to be a real test for DHS both physically and mentally with “School” running out 47-21 victors.
DHS raced into an early 26-0 lead with some stunning line breaks from scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba who had been shifted to flyhalf for this game. Explosive flanker Phendulani Buthelezi also scored an excellent effort, breaking three tackles to score under the poles. Hooker KV Fatyela rounded off the early batch of tries as he too crashed over from close range. But what had appeared as an easy fixture at first was turned on its head late in the half as two fortuitous tries fell to Vories, the first from a hacked through kick and the second from a intercept. This gave the home team some hope, which they sustained throughout the entire game.
The 2nd half became a bit scrappy as the evening dew made ball-handling conditions very difficult. This being said, DHS were able to rack up some key tries at just the right time. Winger Luthando Buthelezi scoring a great solo effort from his break on the opposition 10 metre line, rounding two opponents before dotting down. Vories hit back directly from a pick and go that was poorly defended. DHS had been struggling to exit from their kick off receipts all night and this resulted in the away team mounting up unnecessary pressure on themselves throughout the night. But another try from Lock Ayanda Sithole after some quick thinking from scrumhalf Bradley Sterling gave DHS back the ascendency.
The game was marred by some foul play too, as a dump tackle on Sanele Nohamba saw him stretchered from the field and in turn resulted in some off the ball incidents. However, the DHS boys regained their composure and rallied well ultimately finishing on a high note when replacement wing Mfundo Mkhize got his first try for the 1st team on debut, with a solo effort.
DHS will see this as a good victory that will most certainly aid their preparation for their encounters with the big three games coming up towards the end of the season. All in all, a good result after the very short turnaround.
Scott Mathie
1st XV Rugby Coach/Head of Rugby
