Grey College untouchable at pre-season Festival
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Five Grey College players made the Team of the Festival as the hosts went unbeaten at the inaugural NextGenXV Global Schools Challenge held in Bloemfontein, writes ALLAN SCHULZ.
The Premier Schools competition was hosted by Grey College and included Grey High, Oakdale, Strathallan School (Scotland), Denstone College (England) and an U18 invitational team from Hamilton Rugby Club competing on three matchdays between 14-18 December.
Grey College won all three of their matches convincingly, an exciting backline doing most of the damage as the hosts scored 23 tries and conceded two. One of those Electric left wing Siyabonga Kenny was the top scorer with five tries while centre O'Ryan Kleyn scored in all three games and was joined on three tries by No 8 AJ Booysen.
Kenny was joined in the Team of the Festival by four of his teammates, namely tighthead prop Marinus Oosthuizen, flanker Xander Smit, powerful outside centre Ethan Adams and fullback Lamla Mgedezi.
Watch: Ethan Express flattens defenders
Grey High beat Denstone College (England) and Strathallan School (Scotland) in their opening two games before coming unstuck against a physical Hamilton u18 side from Cape Town, going down in a 19-17 thriller on the final day. Utility back Meyer Prinsloo scored three tries in the week to be named in the Team of the Festival.
Oakdale kicked off the Festival on Saturday with a shock defeat to Strathallan, unable to stage a comeback win from a 17-0 half-time deficit. The men from Riversdale put things right with comfortable wins over Hamilton and Denstone in their remaining two matches. Jacobus de Villiers, their young No 8, was in fine form as he scored four tries.
Standout Performers
Grey College
AJ Booysen (No. 8)
Jan Hendrik van der Linden (flyhalf)
Siyabonga Kenny (left wing)
O'Ryan Kleyn (centre)
Ethan Adams (centre)
Lamla Mgedezi (fullback)
Grey High
John Els (prop)
Evan Mucka (hooker)
Ciaran Killian (centre)
Meyer Prinsloo (centre/fullback)
Oakdale
Kai Pratt (prop)
Jacobus de Villiers (No. 8)
Lee-Winn Pretorius (wing)
Reinhardt Viljoen (fullback)
Results
Day 1 – 14 December 2024
Oakdale 22 – 24 Strathallan School (Scotland)
Grey College 40 – 7 Hamilton u18
Grey High 31 – 19 Denstone College (England)
Day 2 – 16 December 2024
Grey College 62 – 0 Denstone College (England)
Grey High 17 – 12 Strathallan School (Scotland)
Oakdale 41 – 17 Hamilton u18
Day 3 – 18 December 202
Grey High 17 – 19 Hamilton u18
Oakdale 33 – 7 Denstone College (England)
Grey College 43 – 5 Strathallan School (Scotland)
Team of the Festival
1 Kai Pratt (Oakdale)
2 Evan Mucka (Grey High)
3 Marinus Oosthuizen (Grey College)
4 Marcus Lee (Hamilton u18)
5 Fin Charles (Denstone College, England)
6 Xander Smit (Grey College)
7 Bertie Wood (Strathallan School, Scotland)
8 Jacobus de Villiers (Oakdale)
9 Jandrian Goosen (Oakdale)
10 Finlay Anderson (Strathallan School, Scotland)
11 Siyabonga Kenny (Grey College)
12 Meyer Prinsloo (Grey High)
13 Ethan Adams (Grey College)
14 Luc de Villiers (Grey High)
15 Lamla Mgedezi (Grey College)
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
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