St John’s Easter Festival wrap (Day 2): Big guns go back-to-back

Five teams remained unbeaten at the 2023 St John’s Easter Festival after registering victories on day two of the prestigious tournament on Saturday.

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Welkom Gim, Maritzburg, Boland Landbou, Jeppe, Pretoria Boys’ all kept their 100% win rate at the festival in tact and remain on course to go unbeaten at the tournament.

Jeppe snatched a dramatic late 24-20 win against Hilton in what was arguably the best game of the day.

Three straight tries had seen Jeppe open up a 19-0 lead early in the first half. At that stage, you might’ve been excused for thinking the match is over as a contest. But Hilton never game up and mounted a stunning comeback to lead 20-19 with little under 10 minutes remaining.

But Jeppe camped in Hilton’s half in the closing stages of the game, launching one onslaught after another on the tryline. Eventually the Hilton’s defensive dam wall collapsed and Jeppe scored at the death to snatch a win.

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Elsewhere, Pretoria Boys’ had to fight tooth and nail for their 26-19 victory over Grey High in an epic clash between two top teams.

Boland Landbou beat Noordheuwel by the exact same scoreline (26-19), while Welkom Gim narrowly overcame the Lions Invitational XV 19-17.

Of the five unbeaten teams, Maritzburg are the only side that secured a blowout victory, lashing Nelspruit 43-19.

In other results, St John’s and Graeme played out to a 20-all stalemate and St Charles whacked St Benedict’s 31-9.

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ST JONH’S EASTER FESTIVAL SCORES (DAY 2):

Pretoria Boys High 26-19 Grey High
Jeppe 24-20 Hilton
Boland Landbou 26-19 Noordheuwel
Nelspruit 19-43 Maritzburg College
St Johns College 20-20 Graeme College
St Charles 31-09 St Benedict’s
Welkom Gim 19-17 Lions XV

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ACTION FROM THE FESTIVAL