Not close enough for Brakpan
“We are not happy with losing but are very happy with the effort."
Brakpan Rugby Club’s first team were disappointed when two yellow cards in the final 10 minutes of the Presidents Cup final against Vereeniging saw them go 32-19 down away from home.
This result was after the two teams had locked at 12-all at halftime. The match was a close contest until the last 10 minutes when Vereeniging scored two late tries off kick-offs.
“The two soft tries make it look not so close,” said Brakpan’s forwards coach Darlton Botha. With 10 minutes to go, they were only 20-19 ahead.”
While losing the final was not good, the team could take some positives from the Presidents Cup.
“We are not happy with losing but are very happy with the effort. We knew Vereeniging had a strong team with experience, so they didn’t want to get bullied and certainly were not,” he said.
“I believe we were the better team for 70 minutes of that game.”
Brakpan and Vereeniging will look to face each other in the first game of the Valke Peregrine League at Bosman Stadium on May 25. Botha feels the Presidents Cup was a beneficial experience for Brakpan.
“It’s a great initiative by the Valke Rugby Union. There are some things they can do better,” said the coach.
“On the field, we had two easier games and two tougher games afterwards. It gives you that battle hardness. We now know what it’s like to rub shoulders with these teams. So now we will know what to improve and what to expect.”
Brakpan will look to use the time they have between now and the start of the Peregrine League wisely.
“We’ll look to push the fitness and work on the finer details,” said the coach.
“When you only train twice a week, you don’t have much time for intricate details. The time we have will allow us to rough up and get that smooth finish on our game.”
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Botha feels there are more positives than negatives for Brakpan.
“We had a few injuries but nothing too serious, and all the players should be ready for the Peregrine League. The injuries are the only negatives I can think of. In this game, you will risk injuries.
“Unfortunately, rugby is a game you need to play and get exposure to because every situation and every game is different. That’s why experience is so important,” he said.
“The big positive is we have played in a final early in the season. So we’ve felt that pressure and know what it’s like to be under it. That is probably the biggest positive out of it.”
The first-team game might have ended in defeat, but there were victories for Brakpan. The second team beat Vereeniging 13-7, while the U21 side beat Springs 32-27.
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