St Andrew’s College played Brandwag from Uitenhage on Saturday at the annual Graeme College Rugby Day. Both teams had inexperienced line ups for the encounter. St Andrew’s had a very stiff breeze behind their backs in the first half and started well scoring two early tries through Julian Mapoore and Ucwambu Mgudlwa to take the lead 10-0. Brandwag began to gain some momentum and managed to gain territory through several penalties conceded by the St Andrew’s team. Brandwag bulldozered over the line using the strength of their forwards. St Andrew’s bounced straight back through so quick penalty taps and Karabo van Heerden crossed the line and Scott Miles added the 2-point conversion. Brandwag got over the line once again with the use of their forwards and the try was converted. St Andrew’s held a slender 17 -12 halftime lead.

Brandwag would have been confident going into the second half with the wind behind their backs, however it was St Andrew’s who thrived in the conditions. The boys from Makhanda were confident in the way they played and kept the ball in hand. St Andrew’s dominated possession and ran the ball from all areas of the field, scoring 3 more tries with van Heerden, Mapoore and Mgudlwa all completing a brace with Miles converting one of the tries. Brandwag showed a lot of grit and never gave up scoring a converted try to end the game.