For the first time in 3 years, Brookside enjoyed some warmer, clearer weather which later became cooler as cloud swept over the mountain – but most importantly there was no rain!
Opening matches were slightly delayed due to three schools arriving late and unfortunately two ‘no shows’. But those issues were quickly overcome and the tournament was well underway.
Strong starts from Drakenstein, Langa, Lagunya, Bishops B, SACS A, Wynberg B, Rondebosch B and Jan Van Riebeeck ensured they continued in the Trophy Tournament, whilst closer matches involving Wynberg A, Reddam and Tableview made their journey a bit tougher but they triumphed and proceeded in the Trophy Tournament as well. They were joined by SACS B, Rondebosch A, Fish Hoek, Bergvliet and Bishops A, who were awarded walkovers into the Trophy due to schools arriving late or no matches.
The 1st 16 sides that lost in the opening Round proceeded to the Plate Tournament.
The Trophy Tournament quarter-finals saw Drakenstein beating SACS B 38-0, Rondebosch A beating Bishops B 15-7 in one of the more exciting games of the tournament and SACS A beating Wynberg B 26-21 in Sudden Death which was another good contest. And finally, Bishops A powered through 28-0 against Rondebosch B.
The Trophy semi-finals saw the 2008 strong contenders Drakenstein fall 26-12 against Rondebosch A. Bishops A continued their powerful performance by beating SACS A (the 2007 winners) 17-0.
The Trophy final was all Bishops who simply outclassed Rondebosch A, allowing them only 14 points to their 45.Â
Bishops A won the 2009 Trophy Tournament. It was Bishops A’s 19th Trophy win in 41 years… 20 wins for the school if you count Bishops B’s 1982 Trophy win!
The Plate competition semi-finals were DF Malan playing Excelsior which went to Sudden Death and Excelsior won 17-12 in what many say was the match of the tournament. Groote Schuur beat the Jag Academy ‘Barbarians’ side 31-0.
The final was won by Excelsior who beat Groote Schuur 36-0 to claim the Plate Prize. It was Excelsior’s first win in the tournament, and they take the Plate from 2008’s winners, Zwaanswyk, whom they beat 19-17 in this years Quarter Final.
Each player in the 8 sides who made the Quarter Finals in the Trophy Tournament were presented with PUMA PERFORMANCE T-SHIRTS, which were branded with the Villager Logo, the 2009 Tournament date and a message from the founder of the Tournament, Mr. Dave Stewart. We were lucky enough to have Dave Stewart attend yesterday’s tournament.
The Plate Winners were presented with PUMA PERFORMANCE GOLF SHIRTS and Bronze Commemorative Medals.
The Runners-Up in the Trophy were presented with Silver Commemorative Medals and Butlers Pizza Hampers.
The Winners, Bishops A, received PUMA KING WALK-OUT JACKETS, Gold Commemorative Medals, Butlers Pizza Hampers and a special prize from PUMA which was a half day training session with Paul Treu and the Springbok Sevens Squad at the Springbok Sevens Training Base in Stellenbosch.
Nick Simpson from the Rondebosch A side, Kerwan Kirby from the Jag Barbarians and R. Steyn from the Wynberg B team, names were all drawn out of a hat [of all the players who took part in the tournament]. They all won Rugby Boot Vouchers from PUMA and will be receiving notification from the tournament organisers to collect their vouchers and then collect the boots from the PUMA Store at Access Park.
All in all a wonderful event, with very good weather. Congratulations to Bishops A for regaining the trophy after last having it in 2006.
Photo of winning team, Bishops A, with trophy and medals:
Well done Bishops.