Crawford La Lucia U18 Sevens Tournament
28 and 29 July 2017
DHS started the Sevens season off with a resounding “bang” as they participated in the Crawford La Lucia Sevens tournament on 28 and 29 July. Having won the tournament for the previous two years, the team was eager to make it three from three. It was also encouraging to have the DHS 2nd Team participate in the tournament too as a late entry and highlights the growth of the sport at the School.
Craven week wing, Cham Zondeki, assumed the captaincy role and led with confidence as the team negotiated the early stages with aplomb, resoundingly beating Michaelhouse 31-7 in the main fixture in the group. The team consisted of a nice blend of all age groups, sporting four Matrics, four Grade 11s, three Grade 10s and one Grade 9.
The semi-finals saw DHS take on a very combative Hilton team, fresh from the overseas tournament victory in the UK. This was an exciting affair, with DHS running out narrow winners 22-19. Although DHS looked exhilarating on attack, it was their defence that stood out on the day, suffocating a lot of their opposition’s efforts.
Kearsney was all that stood in front of an unprecedented three trophies in a row for the “Horseflies”, but it was made all the more difficult when Kearsney took an early lead in the match. However, the DHS fighting spirit shone through and the second half saw DHS run in three tries to be win 26-5 and be crowned the Champions of the Crawford La Lucia Tournament.
The 2nd team also did the School proud, as they were crowned Shield winners, beating the South Coast Invitation team 24-10 in their final.
It was an excellent start to the campaign and the DHS team were proud to be sporting their newly designed kit courtesy of this year’s sponsor, BBF Safety Group. The team had set the benchmark of reclaiming their tag as the number one school in Sevens in the country.
Group Stage
31-7 Michaelhouse
36-5 Kloof
24-5 DHS 2nd Team
Cup Semi-Final
22-19 Hilton
Cup Final
26-5 Kearsney
Player of the Tournament:
Luthando Buthelezi
Clifton College U18 Sevens Tournament
4 August 2017
The Clifton tournament saw the U18 teams gear up for a one day Sevens tournament, which often reveals the fitness of your side, having to compete in a maximum of five matches on the day, a big ask in this format of the game.
The Clifton tournament had always been marred by unfortunate circumstances in the past, as it was the one trophy that had eluded the DHS team’s grasp.
The day started off slowly, as the team underperformed in the early stages, although still comfortably winning their first two group games. The final group game saw DHS pitted against their worthy opponents from Hilton and what a game it proved to be. DHS were staring down the barrel as they entered half time trailing 5-19. With some stern words from the Captain, the team rallied to produce a scintillating 2nd half, running in three unanswered tries to win the game 26-19.
The team were set to face a young and energetic Northwood team who proved to be every bit as difficult as Hilton. We were soon realising that we had become the team to beat and teams were raising their game dramatically for us. The boys rose to the challenge and although trailing 0-12 at half time, ended up winning 19-12, sending us through to our second final in two weeks.
Our opponents in the Cup Final were a confident Westville team who had been performing admirably so far. It was to be a tightly contested affair, where teams traded scores early on. By the full-time whistle the teams were deadlocked 10-10, sending the game into sudden death extra-time. The next kick-off was to prove the deciding factor and saw the shortest member of the team, Luthando Jojo, leap high into the air to claim the kick off. Three phases later DHS had created enough space to send the ball to in-form wing, Luthando Buthelezi, to canter over for the winning try and bring DHS their second trophy of the season!
Group Stage
43-0 South Coast Invitation
40-7 St Henry’s
26-19 Hilton
Cup Semi-Final
19-12 Northwood
Cup Final
15-10 Westville
Player of the Tournament:
Cham Zondeki
Scott Mathie
Sevens Rugby Coach/Head of Rugby
