Overview Sporting Achievements
Over 800 Maritzburg College boys and staff headed up to Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) for the traditional annual exchange against this strong sporting school. It was always going to be a tough encounter across the sporting codes, but there was some consolation with the exchange ending on a high of the 1st XV securing a very convincing 50-31 victory for the first time ever, against Affies at their home ground.
Rugby
College fielded 24 rugby teams against Affies, and the scores don’t do justice to some of the matches which were hard-fought battles by the boys from the Red-Black-White; in particular the U15A and 2nd XV matches. However, it was the gutsy 1st XV match which was to re-write the history books, and saw College secure an outstanding 50-31 victory.
1st XV match report (Mr Tim Orchard, 1st XV coach)
Over the previous 25 years Maritzburg College has played Affies twenty-six times, managing only three victories during that period, all of which occurred on Goldstones. No College team has ever accomplished the feat of beating Affies on their home turf, with the closest being a one-point loss in the early 2000’s. This past Saturday promised to be no different with the odds stacked heavily against Maritzburg College. However, this College side has gone from strength to strength this season, with the match against Grey College being the catalyst on Affies’ home field, although it would take a momentous effort to walk away with the win!
From kickoff, Affies dominated proceedings with the home team racing away to an early lead after only ninety seconds of rugby being played. All that College could do was rely on the boot of flyhalf L du Toit to keep them in the match as he brought the score to 7-6 after two early penalties kicks at goal. Affies hit back again with a well worked try in the seventh minute to extend their lead to 14-6 after the try was converted. College did not panic, relying on their big forwards carry the ball into contact and to gain some purchase in the match. From a lineout drive deep in Affies territory, College hit back through some marvelous invention by their electric outside backs. The ball was shifted through the hands after a powerful carry by captain S Kadira, where outside center S Mbatha spotted some space in behind the Affies defense and threaded the deftest of touches to allow SA Schools player L Kunene to race clear of the Affies defenders, gather the ball and crash over for the try. Du Toit duly converted the try, making it a one-point game after only fourteen minutes. From then on College began to dominate proceedings and looked the better of the two teams on display. After a powerful lineout drive, hooker E Mouton broke free and raced away towards the try line with only a single defender to beat. He was agonizingly brought down inches from the goal line but the momentum he created allowed for the powerful College forwards to smash over to extend the lead. The try scorer was lock J Jansen, who fully deserved the score after a powerful carry allowed him to leap up joy with ball in hand and allow College to take the lead for the first time in the match. The kick was converted by the metronomic boot of Du Toit to take the score to 20-14 in favour of the visitors. The College dominance in the contact zone began to take its toll on the home side, and after a series of powerful carries, were awarded a penalty right in form of the uprights allowing Du Toit to add the extra three points. This remained the score as the whistle brought an end to frenetic first half of rugby, with College deservedly 23-14 ahead.
The second half started with the College pack dominating to march further up the pitch towards the Affies goal line. A strong driving maul from within the Affies 22-metre area was brought down agonizingly close to the Affies chalk. A powerful carry by Jansen over the try line was stopped by the rabid Affies defense causing the lock forward to lose the ball in contact. From the resulting scrum Affies, through their powerful backs, managed to shift the ball through a number of phases to score a wonderful try and reduce the deficit to only four points after the kick was unsuccessfully converted. College, with the breeze at their backs, began to dominate the territory stats as Du Toit skillfully hemmed the home team in their own half. From a scrum just outside the Affies 22, flyhalf Du Toit could now show what he could do with ball in hand. The Affies defense acutely aware of the threat posed by the College outside backs, shifted off him and with a show and go not seen by a flyhalf in the Red, Black and White since Peter Grant, Luc Du Toit raced away to score unopposed under the crossbar for the easiest of conversions. The score stood now at 30-19 to the opposition with Affies looking for a way back into the match. College would not go away and Du Toit added a further three points from the boot to increase the lead even further. Affies did not lie down, and after a smart penalty move crashed over for a converted try to close the deficit to 33-26. Affies began to look as if they may be mounting one of their famous come from behind victories but a tackle in midfield by substitute A Van der Linde led the ball to bounce into the waiting arms of speedster L Makhathini who raced away to drive a knife into the hearts of the Affies faithful in attendance from his own half. With the kick once again converted by Du Toit, College led 40-26. College now smelt blood and after a clever kick by scrumhalf R. Quin which led to the Affies fullback being bundled behind for a College scrum, College had a wonderful opportunity to increase their lead even further. After a series of powerful carries by College, hooker E Mouton barged his way over the try line to add his name to the scoresheet. College now led 47-26 but Affies refused to go away, scoring a try in the closing stages to take the score to 47-31. The final say of the match had to go to College and to its flyhalf L Du Toit. College re-gathered the ball after the kickoff and made an inroad deep into Affies territory. Phase after phase College pounded away at the Affies defense to score the last points of the match but with time up they were awarded a penalty which allowed Du Toit to slot over the penalty kick to take the score to an historic 50-31 victory to the side from Maritzburg.
Not only did College walk away with their first ever victory away from home against Affies but this was also the largest ever win against Affies. The day belonged to Luc Du Toit who bagged himself 30 points with twenty-five points coming from the boot and a wonderful solo try to cap off a performance that will stay with him forever.
Maritzburg College 50
Tries: L. Kunene, J. Jansen, L. Du Toit, L. Makhathini and E. Mouton
Conversions: Du Toit x5
Penalties: Du Toit x5
Affies 31
Summary of results
| Team | Opposition | Result |
| 1st | Affies | W 50-31 |
| 2nd | Affies | L 15-33 |
| 3rd | Affies | L 3-37 |
| 4th | Affies | L 5-21 |
| 5th | Affies | L 7-38 |
| 6th | Affies | L 0-29 |
| 7th | Affies | L 0-47 |
| 8th | Affies | L 0-47 |
| 16A | Affies | L 14-70 |
| 16B | Affies | L 0-42 |
| 16C | Affies | L 15-52 |
| 16D | Affies | L 0-22 |
| 16E | Affies | L 0-46 |
| 15A | Affies | L 10-17 |
| 15B | Affies | L 3-27 |
| 15C | Affies | L 8-56 |
| 15D | Affies | L 6-47 |
| 15E | Affies | L 0-50 |
| 15F | Affies | L 0-50 |
| 14A | Affies | L 10-38 |
| 14B | Affies | L 0-50 |
| 14C | Affies | L 0-49 |
| 14D | Affies | L 0-50 |
| 14E | Affies | L 0-50 |
| 14F | Affies | L 0-50 |
Hockey
Fifteen hockey teams took on Affies and it proved a tough day on the Highveld for College, as they secured four wins and four draws but lost 7 matches.
1st XI match report (Mr Kyle Emerson, 1st XI coach)
College 1st XI played to a game plan that worked well in the opening minutes and allowed them to turn the ball over high in the field multiple times, leading to a few goal scoring opportunities, the best one to Bryn Brokensha whose shot narrowly missed the near post.
Affies weathered the storm and after a good outlet, manged to create a circle entry and earned a penalty corner which was converted with a drag-flick. College were one nil down and would regret not taking their early chances.
College continued to dominate and create chance after chance but could not beat the Affies goal keeper. The penalty corners they earned were not well taken and errors cost them taking the lead into half time. The half time talk was to remind the team of the plan, and to stick to it as the opportunities were being created. Four minutes into the second half, the resistance paid off and College took the lead after B Dlamini finished off a goal build up play in the 9-yard area. Six minutes later College pulled the Affies defense apart with a great piece of interplay, which ended in Konigkramer passing to S Sithembu who dived pushing the ball into the goal to allow College to take the lead.
Affies continued to try and catch College on the break, and it paid off when they earned a penalty corner at the end of the third quarter and were able to find the back of the net after the first shot was saved onto the cross bar. This meant the fourth quarter would intensify as both teams searched for a winner.
The momentum in the fourth quarter was firmly in College’s favour but they slowly started to run out of legs and struggled to hold on to their structure which they used so well in the first three quarters. A few penalty corners were not converted, and it would again be a case of not taking opportunities that would mean College did not get the winning result they deserved. Affies did well to hold on to a draw after soaking up so much pressure on their goal.
Summary of results
| Team | Opponents | Result |
| 1st | Affies | D 2-2 |
| 2nd | Affies | D 1-1 |
| 3rd | Affies | L 0-1 |
| 4th | Affies | L 0-2 |
| 5th | Affies | D 1-1 |
| 16A | Affies | D 0-0 |
| 16B | Affies | W 3-0 |
| 16C | Affies | W 6-1 |
| 16D | Affies | W 3-1 |
| 16E | Affies | L 1-6 |
| 16F | Affies | L 1-3 |
| 14A | Affies | L 0-3 |
| 14B | Affies | L 0-1 |
| 14C | Affies | W 1-0 |
| 14D | Affies | L 0-4 |
Squash
College’s squash team secured a very convincing 10-2 win against Affies.
Cycling
College’s senior team dominated the mountain-biking competition against Affies held at Wolwespruit Park, over technical terrain. The Junior team lost but thoroughly enjoyed the competition and learned a lot from the experience.
Canoeing
Three College canoeists took part in the school flatwater league race at Midmar dam over the weekend. K Vogt placed 2nd in the U18 race and won the U16 race, while J Jv Rensburg was 6th in the U18 race and finished 3rd in the U16 event. L ‘O Connor was the 7th U18 paddler home and finished 4th in the U16 race.
Soccer
College soccer kicked off the 3rd term season with fixtures at Kloof High School. The College teams were victorious on the day winning all five matches played, with M Qasha scoring a hat-trick for the 1st team in a 6 – 1 win.
Summary of results vs Kloof
U14A won 9 – 1
U15A won 3 – 0
U16A won 4 – 0
2nd won 4 – 0
1st won 6 -1
Debating
In the recent provincial debating competition, College had four boys who featured; K Moodley, A Mhlanzi, M Karrim, R Froise and MH Moosa. K Moodley, R Froise, MH Moosa teams broke to the quarter-finals with K Moodley’s team being knocked out in the junior rounds. R Froise and MH Moosa’s teams broke to the semi-finals, and MH Moosa’s team broke to finals. In the senior finals,
MH Moosa team were up against a Durban team in finals, and Pmb won the event with MH Moosa named as best speaker.
Following the event, a number of College boys made KZN selections:
Junior: K Moodley
Junior reserve: A Mhlanzi
Senior: R Froise
Reserve: MH Moosa
Golf
1st round – BetterBall: College lost 0-3, Individual: College lost 0-6
2nd round – BetterBall: College lost 0-3, Individual: College lost 2-4
Tennis
College lost 0-15 to a strong tennis team from Affies
Table Tennis
College lost 4-21 against the Affies table tennis boys.
Chess
Despite not having all the top players, College won four of their chess matches, and drew one.