Union High School, Graaff-Reinet’s ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง ๐ซ๐ฉ traveled to Oudtshoorn over the Easter weekend to participate in the Langenhoven Gimnasium Sports Festival.
๐๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ, Langenhoven Gimnasium, the boys faced an early challenge as the hosts secured the first points with a try, leading 7-0.
However, Union quickly responded with a try from ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ, leveling the score. Union then took the lead with two penalty kicks, bringing the score to 13-7.
๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด further extended the lead with another try, making it 18-7. Unfortunately, a lapse in concentration allowed Langenhoven Gimnasium to narrow the gap to 18-14. ๐๐ถ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ถ’s try ensured that Union went into halftime with a comfortable 23-14 lead.
๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ง, ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ซ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ง๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐ช๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ, ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง 31-23.
Union’s second game was against Brighton Secondary School, also from Oudtshoorn.
Brighton struck first, scoring a try and taking a 5-0 lead. A well-executed line-out and maul set the stage for Union’s first try, scored by ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ.
Brighton then capitalized on defensive lapses from Union, regaining the lead at 12-7. ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐ ๐ก๐พ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ made his mark by scoring a try, which, along with a conversion by ๐ ๐ฎ๐ธ๐๐ธ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ, put Union ahead 14-12. A penalty try pushed the score to 21-12 in favour of Union at halftime.
However, the second half mirrored earlier struggles, as costly mistakes, including a red and yellow card, allowed Brighton back into the game. They narrowed Union’s lead to 21-19 before ๐๐น๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ scored again, bringing the tally to 28.
๐๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ, ๐๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ค๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง 29-28.