Winners Brandwag, Marlow do EP proud

THREE Eastern Cape schools were involved in the finals of Die Burger schools rugby competition, with Marlow and Brandwag being crowned champions in their sections.

In the small schools section, though, Bertram came unstuck 39-3 against Cape Town side Excelsior.

Playing in the medium-sized schools division final in Cradock, Brandwag took the honours after an exciting 49-33 win over Boland opponents Augsburg Agricultural Gymnasium.

The categories are determined by the number of rugby teams a school fields. Schools with between five and nine teams play in the medium section.

Marlow won the big schools division after beating Paarl Boys' High 11-10 on the same day. Brandwag narrowly lost 27-22 to Marlow early in the season.

Brandwag led 24-7 at the break, but Augsburg made a comeback in the second half. However, they were never able to make up the leeway.

At one stage, the Boland side narrowed the gap to 34-28. However, Brandwag stepped up a gear and finished strongly.

For Brandwag, flank Morney Moos once again stole the show with a hat-trick of tries. Brandwag's other tries were scored by wing Michael Venter and locks Frank Fourie and Armand Ferreira. Flyhalf Shevaan Hendriks converted five tries and succeeded with three penalties.

Augsburg's points came from tries by hooker Adriaan de Waal (2), centres Jaydrin Kotze and Ruben Brand, and wing Tiaan Oertel. Brand converted four tries.

Marlow showed fine defensive qualities in defeating Paarl Boys' despite being outscored by two tries to one.

Trailing 10-6, Marlow's Craven Week No8, Luigy van Jaarsveld, barged his way over for the match-winning try.

Their remaining points came from penalties by Gerhard Potgieter and Andre Kritzinger. Wian Gouws and Curtley Grain scored tries for Boys' High.