First XV lose in Nigel

Benoni Rugby Club’s first and second XVs travelled to Nigel on Saturday, June 7, for what are always highly challenging encounters.

The first XV came up against an extremely tough and physical Nigel team, in a bruising match which saw four Benoni players leaving the field through injury in the first half.

Benoni, once again, found themselves in that familiar position of having to play catch-up rugby, despite leading 10-0 within the first 10 minutes.

Nigel, however, bounced back quickly and went over the visiting team’s try line three times before the break, and went into the second half 27-13 up.

The boys from Benoni had it all to do and began to chip away at the deficit.

This proved to be somewhat of a see-saw affair, as each try that was scored by Benoni was countered by the Nigel team.

Benoni’s defence let slip a few times as the home team went over for relatively “soft” tries, which made the Nigel score line look better than what actually transpired on the day.

A bonus point was earned by the Benoni team after they scored three more tries in the second period, but it was not enough to secure a win as they went down 49-34.

Benoni’s tries were scored by eighth-man Jacques Dorfling, who had to leave the field early, winger Cheston Daniels, captain Frans-Louis van Greunen and scrumhalf Quin van der Nest, but it was the young Benoni lock, Steward van der Merwe, who took the honours of Man of the Match.

With a few solid young players in the mix, like van der Merwe, Daniels and Dorfling, Benoni does appear to have a bright future.

The second XV also had a tough day, but they managed to scrape through with a result in the end, to ensure their third successive win (8-5).

Although it was a good team effort, fly-half Raymond Nel scored all the points for Benoni, with a try and penalty.

It was, however, the hooker Tiaan Myburgh who earned the plaudits for a strong showing, as he was named as the Man of the Match.

The teams will have a bye this weekend, and will play Elsburg at home, on the Hoërskool Hans Moore grounds, on Saturday, June 21.

The seconds kick-off at 2.40pm, while the first team will play at 4pm.