Brakpan Rugby Club gears up for season opener

The fruits of Brakpan Rugby Club’s labour will be displayed on Saturday when they kick off the Valke Peregrine League against Vereeniging at Bosman Stadium.

The local team will want to start the season in style as they go against one of the tougher opponents in the competition.

It will be the second time Brakpan faces Vereeniging this year after losing 32-19 in the Presidents Cup final away from home last month.

“We all know what happened against them last time. But now they are coming into our backyard to come and play. I think we are ready for them,” said the local club’s vice-chairperson, Sarel Korf.

Korf believes Brakpan will be better this time around.

“We have put in much work since then. We have had time to fix the mistakes from that match,” Korf said.

“We are definitely not taking them lightly. You can never underestimate Vereeniging, but we learnt from our last match. So, we will be ready for Vereeniging on Saturday.”

This year’s league competition sees just five teams competing after Benoni and Kempton dropped to the lower leagues in previous years, while East Rand United suffered relegation this year.

“This means every match will be a big one. You can almost see every match as a quarter-final. Sure, you still have to play teams home and away, but your margins for error are so much smaller now. Accuracy is going to be everything now,” said Korf.

Having fewer teams in the league is a concern for those involved in the sport in the Valke region.

“If you look at the other unions, they seem to be growing, but the Valke seems to be taking steps back all the time,” said Korf.

“It cannot be healthy for a rugby union to keep losing one of the top clubs year after year just because they cannot compete or any other reason.

“Ultimately, what’s happening then is your B league becomes you’re A league, and that’s counter-productive.”

While it is difficult to understand why clubs keep losing players to a point where they cannot field three teams (first, second and U21), Brakpan prides itself on not having that problem.

“There is the adage, ‘You reap what you sow’. You will see the results if you put in the hard work. We still have a strong junior rugby base, ensuring the U18s progress to U21. In addition to that, we know the junior season is roughly around the exam time for matrics. However, we put in the effort to go to the schools to talk to the guys and ensure our feeder ground stays healthy, and we keep getting the young talent to the club,” Korf told the Herald.

“If you want to protect the sport, you must look after the juniors.”

While the club’s future remains important, Korf also highlighted the importance of this weekend and encouraged the fans to come out in numbers to support Brakpan. He said there will be prizes for the fans – one being two tickets for the Springbok match against Ireland at Loftus Versfeld on July 6.