St John’s Easter Festival wrap (Day 1): Boland Landbou overpower Grey

Boland Landbou effortlessly toppled Grey High as all the big teams flexed their muscles on the opening day at the 2023 St John’s Easter Festival on Thursday.

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There were big wins for all the household names at this tournament, with the likes of Boland, Jeppe, Nelspruit, Pretoria Boys’ and Maritzburg all recording one-sided runaway victories.

In the big clash of the day, Boland outfoxed an ill-disciplined Grey High for a 22-12 win. Boland basically reduced Grey to bystanders in the first half, as they raced out to a 15-point lead while keeping the opposition scoreless at the break.

That lead was extended to 22 points with another convert try after the break. Grey finally came to the party after that courtesy of Kaiden Titus’ 12-point haul via two tries and a conversion. But his try-scoring exploits were too little too late and merely served to put some respectability on the scoreboard.

Meanwhile, Maritzburg scored a whopping eight tries against the Lions invitational XV for a resounding 50-5 win.

Pretoria Boys’ hooker Shaun Schürmann bagged a hat-trick of tries to inspire his side to a commanding 41-5 result against St Charles.

In other results, Jeppe defeated Graeme College 27-17 and Nelspruit pipped St Benedict’s 12-8.

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ST JONH’S EASTER FESTIVAL SCORERS (DAY 1):

Boland Landbou 22 — Tries: Enslin Claasen (2), Jay-T George, Retagen van Rooi. Conversion: Dewald de Villiers. 
Grey High 12 — Tries: Kaiden Titus (2). Conversion: Titus.

Jeppe 27 —Tries: Lethabo Kekana, Exauce Kevani, Risima Khoza. Conversions: Khuthadzo Rasivhaga (3). Penalties: Rasivhaga (2). 
Graeme College 17 — Tries: Soso Sizani, Licebo Ngwentle. Conversions: Steven du Preez (2). Penalty: Du Preez.

Hoërskool Nelspruit 12 — Tries: Braam Basson, Hughwin Hayman. Conversion: Kian van Tonder. 
St Benedict’s 8 — Try: Nathi Beda. Penalty: Onkgopotse Monaheng.

Pretoria Boys’ 41 — Tries: Shaun Schürmann (3), Ntsako Ndlovu (2), Jason van der Merwe, Jack Tsanweni. Conversions: Justin Tattersall (3). 
St Charles 5 — Try: Rashid Isaacs.

Maritzburg College 50 — Tries: Colm Reardon (2), Codi Robinson, Struan Oosthuizen, Ayrton van der Linde, Liam Swanepoel, Swelihle Mbatha, Travis Walton. Conversions: Van der Linde (4), Mbatha. 
Golden Lions XV 5 — Try: Reinhardt Botha.

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FESTIVAL INFORMATION STATION