Staff Reporter
Dale College capped an unbeaten run through the Lilyfontein Sevens with a convincing 33-12 victory over Ooskus Gimnasium to claim the U17 title in the Eastern Cape on Saturday.
Dale won all five of their matches at the tournament, which formed part of the Clover High School Sevens Series and was hosted by Lilyfontein School outside East London on 29 August.
The Qonce school began its campaign with two emphatic victories in Group C, beating the Kwelera Invitational side 31-5 before running in 57 points in a 57-10 win over Hangklip.
The knockout stages proved considerably tougher.
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Dale defeated Port Rex Technical High School 27-19 in the quarter-finals before being pushed all the way by Stirling High School in the semi-finals.
Only three points separated the sides in that encounter, with Dale holding on for a 27-24 victory and a place in the final.
Ooskus took a less straightforward route to the decider.
After opening their tournament with a 24-19 victory over hosts Lilyfontein, Ooskus lost 26-17 to Hudson Park High School in their second pool match.
They recovered to eliminate Queen’s College 28-24 in the quarter-finals and then turned the tables on Hudson Park, winning their semi-final 26–19 to secure a meeting with Dale.
But Dale proved too strong in the title match, winning 33-12 to complete an unbeaten tournament.
Across their five matches, Dale scored 175 points and conceded 70, with their 57-10 pool victory over Hangklip their biggest win of the day.
Their closest contest was the three-point semi-final victory over Stirling.
The U17 title was up for grabs after Cambridge High School, the previous champions according to SuperSport Schools, did not contest this year’s tournament. Dale had also not competed in the previous edition.
Ahead of the tournament, SuperSport Schools Plus identified Dale among the leading contenders following a strong season in the traditional 15-player format.
Lilyfontein said ahead of the event that Dale and Ooskus were among 16 schools and invitational teams expected for its senior rugby and netball sevens festival.
Other schools in the U17 draw included Queen’s College, Hudson Park, Stirling, Port Rex, Victoria Park and George Randell High School. Graeme College also competed at the festival, but only in the U15 age group — the team does not enter the U17 competition.
The tournament has a long history in Border schools rugby.
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According to Lilyfontein School, its seven-a-side rugby competition was first played in 1994 and has since become an annual August event bringing together schools from across the Buffalo City region.
Dale came close to making it a double celebration in the U15 competition.
Its younger side won Group B and then overwhelmed Stirling 40-7 in the quarter-finals, but lost a high-scoring semi-final 33-31 to Graeme College.
Graeme went on to defeat Queen’s College 31-19 in the U15 final, with SuperSport Schools reporting that the Makhanda side had successfully defended its title.
