Prince Edward School’s 1st XV rugby team edged closer to 100 wins over St George’s with their 28-13 victory on Saturday, 4 June 2016. The Tigers’ win on Saturday marks the 95th time they have defeated rivals St George’s in their history since 1929.
St George’s enjoyed an early blitz with fly-half Russell Biyason slotting an easy penalty to get his team on the board in the early moments of the game. Savanhu was on song for the Tigers, landing kicks from out wide to get the extra points when his team went over the white wash. The score was 28-13 to Prince Edward going into the halftime break.
The two rivals, Prince Edward and St Georges, face off at least twice every year for the Centenary and Reunion matches. In rare cases the old foes have played three matches in one calendar year as was the case in 1935 and 1936. Of the 160 matches played between them thus far, 55 have gone the way of St George’s, while Prince Edward have won 95. Only ten of all matches played have ended in a draw, with the tightest one coming in the winter of 1968 ending with 3-3 final score.
Years 1999 to 2006 were the toughest for St George’s as they only registered one win out of 15 encounters with the Tigers. 1999 also saw the Dragons being handed their worst defeat ever by their rival, losing 69-00.
Coach Brendon Brider must have delivered some stern words to his boys over the half time as they came back with clear intent. St George’s literally camped in Prince Edward’s half the whole second half, but Prince Edward stood their ground and defended their try line. The line-outs worked, the scrums worked, but St George’s will only have themselves to blame for not finishing well.
No points were added in the second half, as Prince Edward Tigers earned their 95th win over the St George’s Tigers.
Prince Edward host the reunion fixture on the 2nd of July. A win in Jubilee will leave the Tigers just four matches away from achieving 100 wins over St George’s.