Rugby Sevens 1st Team
Glenwood Tournament:
The DHS 7s Rugby First team took part in the annual Glenwood Sevens Tournament which was hosted by Twizza. It was our first outing as a team and the boys were very excited to participate and to test themselves against the other schools of KZN who already had three or more tournaments under their belts.
The First side started off well on the Friday afternoon, beating Westville’s 2nd team 24-19. Come Saturday our first game faced a strong-willed College side, narrowly losing 17-24; unfortunately, our defense let us down during crucial stages. The team rallied up and fought hard against the Westville 1st side in a must-win-to-stay-in-the-cup-pool game, but sadly lost in the dying seconds 14-21 when we knocked the ball on while trying to equalize the score.
From there the boys stood up and took the defeat graciously, beating firstly Kearsney College 19-12 then Northwood 19-17 in a tightly contested Plate final.
Pionier Tournament:
The DHS Sevens First side travelled to Hoërskool Pionier to take part in the Twizza Sevens Tournament. The team started off well on the Friday afternoon by beating Hoërskool Vryheid 22-15, but got stuck against a very committed St Charles side, going down narrowly 14-17. The team struggled to find their rhythm from there and played the following morning against Noordheuwel in a must win pool game; the boys fought hard but in the end Noordheuwel came out on top, eventually winning the cup final against HTS Middelburg.
From there we knew we made it very difficult for ourselves and ended up playing in the Bowl Cup final, which we knew was not the standard we had set for ourselves. However, the boys played some brilliant rugby and ended the tournament off by beating Pionier’s second team 55-5. Upon reflection, the key component that was lacking at the tournament was that we were not physical enough during contact and on defense. I am sure that the boys are looking forward to the next Sevens tournament which is to be held at Woodburn Stadium in Pietermaritzburg this weekend.
Congratulations to our U15A side who won the Cup Final against Noordheuwel and qualified for the Champions Tournament that will be held at Camp Discovery on 19 and 20 October. We wish them all the best in their preparations and when they represent Durban High School.
Coaches:
R Lombard/C Levin
