19 May 2026
On a stirring Old Boys’ Weekend at Old Orchards on Saturday, there was no separating St Charles College and Glenwood High after an enthralling 26-26 King Price Derby Series draw, with Caleb Sharp holding his nerve to slot a difficult conversion on the final whistle and rescue a share of the spoils for the home side.
For long stretches, it appeared as if Glenwood had done enough. Yet Saints refused to go away, feeding off the energy of a passionate crowd and producing one final surge to snatch a dramatic draw.
“It was crazy!” Saints’ coach Craig Dwyer said afterwards.
“We had a lot of opportunities down there at the end. We didn’t quite finish, but it was crazy, beyond words.
“It was important to get a result like this on our Old Boys’ Weekend. Both sides have been struggling this year for victories, but it was a helluva battle. We knew they were going to come hard. They’re a very proud side.
“They were amazing, absolutely amazing,” he said of his players. “It feels like a victory. We’ll take it.”
The visitors made the sharper start, controlling territory and possession early on, but it was Saints who struck first through outside centre Nala Njabulo, who sliced through an outside gap in the 15th minute. Sharp missed the conversion, but it would prove to be his only miss of the afternoon.
Conceding sparked the Green Machine into life.
Within minutes, Glenwood replied through scrumhalf Vincenzo Loutz after a series of powerful phases. Soon afterwards, fullback Rosco Williams capitalised on a moment of hesitation after appearing to spill a pass, bursting through a gap before diving over for Glenwood’s second try. Loutz converted to edge the visitors ahead.
The Durban side then produced the moment of the half.
After Loutz narrowly missed a penalty attempt, Czech wing Jakub Bednar gathered a drop kick from the 22 near the touchline, almost 40 metres out, and produced a scintillating solo effort, beating four defenders on his way to the corner. Loutz added an excellent conversion to hand Glenwood a commanding 19-5 halftime lead.
At that stage, the visitors were firmly in control, dominating the collisions and dictating the physical exchanges.
“In the first half, we were getting bullied in the collisions,” Dwyer admitted later.
“For us, the plan was to use the ball more, get it out the back and use that tail ball more, to stretch the Glenwood defence.
“Our message was simple going into the game: if we could stay in touching distance, we backed ourselves to finish.”
Roared on by the Old Orchards’ faithful, Saints emerged from the break with renewed purpose and spent much of the second half camped inside Glenwood territory.
A powerful driving maul, launched from a Joshua Harris lineout take, resulted in hooker Dresden Coetzee crashing over early in the second half. Sharp converted to cut the deficit to seven.
Harris was immense throughout, dominating the lineouts and working tirelessly around the park to provide Saints with the platform for their comeback.
Glenwood, though, continued to show composure despite fielding a youthful side featuring only four matric starters. Absorbing pressure well, they struck back through hooker Tyler Leon, who sold a clever dummy before racing through to score. Loutz’s conversion stretched the lead to 26-12.
Still, Saints continued to press.
Again, the driving maul delivered as Coetzee bulldozed over for his second try, and Sharp’s conversion reduced the deficit to seven.
As time ran down, the home side hammered away at the Glenwood line, but the visitors defended stubbornly and looked set to escape with a victory. But it was not to be.
A late penalty allowed St Charles to kick deep into the right-hand corner. Coetzee was stopped centimetres short of completing his hat-trick, but Glenwood conceded another penalty moments later. Saints tapped quickly, shifted the ball left, and substitute Blake Da Costa squeezed over out wide.
The crowd erupted, then fell silent as Sharp lined up a difficult conversion attempt. The flyhalf held his nerve magnificently, bisecting the uprights to level the scores, which sparked jubilant scenes as supporters flooded onto the field.
“It was a good game. Credit to both sides,” Glenwood coach Justin Hollis said afterwards.
“St Charles played really well. We also played well. I’m proud of my boys. We have a young team, but you wouldn’t have said that from watching them today.”
St Charles Director of Rugby, Craig Dwyer, a Glenwood Old Boy, was thrilled with the performances of the school’s A teams: The u16A and u15A scored narrow victories, while the u14A teams drew.
“Our programme is heading in the right direction. I’m really proud,” he said with a smile.
Overall, St Charles picked up four wins, Glenwood won seven matches, and two ended in draws.
Results
1st: St Charles 26-26 Glenwood
2nd: St Charles 19-36 Glenwood
3rd: St Charles 17 Glenwood 29
4th: St Charles 7 Glenwood 17
5th: St Charles 12 Glenwood 10
6th: St Charles 0 Glenwood 24
16A: St Charles 29 Glenwood 26
16B: St Charles 7 Glenwood 30
15A: St Charles 17 Glenwood 14
15B: St Charles 15 Glenwood 32
15C: St Charles 14 Glenwood 25
14A: St Charles 10 Glenwood 10
14B: St Charles 22 Glenwood 10
HOCKEY
The clash of the 1st XI hockey sides on the Beckett Astro was surprisingly flat in the first half, with neither team injecting much pace into the contest. Instead, it was a cagey affair. Apart from some penalty corners, few threats were generated.
“They’re a good side. They had three short corners in the first chukka, and they could have put us under a bit of pressure, but they didn’t,” Glenwood’s Director of Hockey, Braydon Naidoo, commented.
At halftime, the message to his charges was to increase the tempo. “We knew we would be fine in the second half because of our conditioning. We wanted to keep the tempo high.
Explaining his approach, Naidoo said: “We can’t keep the ball for too long. We’ve got to go for it quickly. That’s the difference, and when you put chances away, it helps, and that scoreboard pressure helps.”
That simple advice paid rich dividends, with the visitors breaking the contest open with three goals in the third chukka, all from composed finishes, with Daniel Ruiters scoring the first before Xaydon Kariko struck twice.
In the fourth chukka, Inathi Doyi slotted a penalty stroke before Blake Francis converted from the spot for St Charles just before the final whistle.
Glenwood also came out on top in the u16A and u14A matches. Saints, though, won five matches, Glenwood four, and two ended in draws.
Results
1st: St Charles 1-4 Glenwood
2nd: St Charles 0-0 Glenwood
3rd: St Charles 5-0 Glenwood
4th: St Charles 2-2 Glenwood
5th: St Charles 0-2 Howick High 2nd
16A: St Charles 0-2 Glenwood
16B: St Charles 7-0Glenwood
16C: St Charles 5-0 Glenwood
16D: St Charles 5-0 Glenwood
16E: St Charles 2-1 Treverton
16F: St Charles 1-0 Carter High
16 G: St Charles 3-2 Grace College
16H: St Charles 0-4 Riverwood College
14A: St Charles 0-1 Glenwood
14B: St Charles 1-0 Glenwood
14D: St Charles 0-3 Grace College
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