The 2023 Chronicle

sport. The team visited Twickenham Stadium en route to Rugby and were treated to a visit to the home team change rooms, museum and hallowed pitch. We then had two days to prepare for the tournament, at which time we were joined by Nick Tisdale from Malvern College, who assisted with the coaching. The teams included schools from all over the world: four from each of the home unions, and one each from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Chile, Japan and South Africa, represented by our Michaelhouse team. Our pool included Llandovery College (Wales), Waseda High School (Japan), Uppingham School (England), Blackrock College (Ireland) and Marlborough College (England). We started with a tight win over Llandovery and ended up second in our pool after losing to Blackrock College, resulting in our playing Merchiston Castle School, who had topped their pool in the round of 16 on day two. By then the boys had found their sevens rhythm and played some wonderful rugby, getting past Merchiston, Whitchurch (England) and Llandovery again to reach the final, where we met Blackrock for the second time. The team felt more comfortable and confident going into the game than they had in the pool stages and started with a bang, going 14-0 up thanks to tries by Leo Muziva and Campbell Ridl, both converted by Luke Davidson. Then near disaster struck. We received two yellow cards, and despite defending valiantly, went 12-19 down with only a couple of minutes to play. With our players back on the field for the final minutes, our attack proved too much for the Irish team to handle, and Wandile Mlaba scored a fantastic try to level the scores. This was converted by Luke Davidson to put us 21-19 up with a restart to come. Luke’s 100% kicking rate was the deciding factor between the two teams. We regathered the ball and Josh Aissing made another breakaway deep into Blackrock territory before play broke down and the referee blew the final whistle. Huge celebrations followed, with the touring families and a strong contingent of Old Boys joining in. It was a wonderful way to end an incredible tournament, and one that the boys will certainly remember for the rest of their lives. We then enjoyed a visit to London, including an Old Boys lunch at the RAF Club hosted by Rick Peacock-Edwards, a tour of Chelsea

Football Club with Old Boy Tim Harkness and a Nando’s dinner, compliments of another Old Boy, Adi Enthoven, much to Mr Dubazana’s delight. Then on to Edinburgh and St Andrews before heading to Heathrow to return just in time to play in the St Stithians Festival over the Easter weekend. The full sevens season included tournaments at Clifton, Hillcrest High, St Charles, DHS and College. Both our First VII and U15As played some great rugby, and it was encouraging to see their games developing during the season. The First VII’s best performance was in Durban, where they narrowly lost to hosts DHS in extra time of the final. The Juniors saved their best for last, finishing runners-up at College. One of the most interesting results of the season came with our 3rd VII beating our 2nd VII in the final of the Wembley College tournament, with Josh Southwood named player of the match. I believe it was a long bus trip home for some. A big thanks to the boys, coaches, managers and trainers for their efforts and energy invested in the boys during the season. RUGBY SCHOOL SEVENS RESULTS 2023 OPPOSITION STAGE SCORE Llandovery College Pool 17-14 Waseda High School Pool 55-14 Uppingham School Pool 36-0 Blackrock College Pool 12-24 Marlborough College Pool 22-12 Merchiston Castle School Last 16 29-15 Whitchurch School Quarters 48-10 Llandovery College Semis 26-5 Blackrock College Final 21-19

SOCCER

U16E: Mr E Mickleburgh U16F: Mr S Sliedrecht U15A: Mr S Ncamani U15B: Mr G Quaite

Staff Member in Charge: Mr Chris van der Berg COACHES: First Team: Mr B Mlangeni, Mr R van Wyk Second Team: Mr S Xulu, Mr S Zikhali Third Team: Mr L Mabuza Fourth Team: Mr B McManus Fifth Team: Mr P Stevens Sixth Team: Mr S Mabaleka Seventh Team: Mr C Sliedrecht Eighth Team: Mr S Dube U16A: Mr L Shezi, Mr S Khanyile

U15C: Mr S Shabangu U15D: Mr S Ngwenya U15E: Mr A Cebo U15F & G: K Robert, T Moeng, L Banfield, Mr A Deetlefs (manager) U14A: Mr T Jarvis, Mr T Ngcobo U14B: Mrs N Shezi U14C: Mr S Sliedrecht U14D: Mr J Cahill U14E: F Graham, B Retzlaff, Mr B Peel (manager) U14F: B Bowmaker, L Fellner, J Ncamani,

U16B: Mr T Mchunu U16C: Mr E Mlotshwa U16D: Mr S Goddard, Mr K. Leteane

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