Northwood Knights weather Durban High School’s Blue Typhoon in thrilling draw

Ntuthuko Mlondo|Published 10 months ago

Northwood First XV jubilant following their try and taking the lead against DHS. DHS would reply immediately and the match ended up as a 7-7 draw.

Durban — The Northwood Knights and Durban High School’s Blue Typhoon continued their strong start to the season, which culminated in a 7-7 draw. The draw leaves the Knights undefeated this season after victories over Hilton College, Hoerskool Brandwag and Hudson Park High School, while DHS continue their winning streak.

Northwood acting headmaster Reggie Govender praised his side’s strong start and said they were happy with the draw against DHS.

He said: “Looking towards the rest of the season – it being our 75th anniversary – the community’s support was amazing and I would like to thank the parents and community for this. The boys came in their numbers. The school’s in a good space and that leads to people being happy to be around.”

Govender said the boys at Northwood contributed to the feel-good factor in the school.

Northwood First XV in a team huddle before battling Durban High School during their inter-schools winter fixture. It was Northwood’s first home game of the season and after a fierce contest, both sides shared the spoils in a 7-7 result.

He thanked the Daily News for its coverage of school sports, adding: “Systems like ours are critical in terms of making sure we are successful in what we do as we are producing the future Springboks, hockey players, cricketers, etc. It is important for the Department of Education to continue to support us so we can continue to produce these quality boys.”

Director of Rugby Jacques Deen said that although it was a difficult day, he couldn’t fault his boys for a draw against an opponent like DHS.

“It boils down to sticking to the system and making things work in your own favour and using your opportunities,” he said.

Deen added that he was trying to exploit the width when DHS had a man in the sin bin, but praised the DHS kicking game and execution. “It’s always amazing playing here. The boys and the crowd were fabulous. It’s always good to get everybody involved. Days like these are about the boys and I think today was a success for Northwood.”

Northwood First XV captain Vuyo Gwiji said: “We tried our best but didn’t execute and that’s something we need to fix in our next practice. We didn’t play to our strengths.”

Vuyo also praised the school and community for their support as well as DHS for the fight they gave.

DHS dominated possession and territory early after securing a trio of penalties. They even turned down a shot at goal in the search for the try. Despite this, Northwood scored first through openside flanker Titas Cesonis. The try was converted and they led 7-0. DHS replied immediately with a try of their own through winger Zenkosi Mthiyane. Their try was converted and it was 7-7.

Nineteen rugby games were played in total. Both sides won nine games a piece and drew one.

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