Roses take a bite out of Brakpan
It was not the perfect start for one of the pre-tournament favourites, G5 Metals Brakpan Rugby Club in the 2014 Cell C Community Cup, South Africa’s elite community club rugby competition.
The team travelled to Wellington, in Boland, to take on the less-fancied Roses United in the first Pool C encounter, at Pelican Park Stadium, on Saturday.
Captain Francois “Bones” Robbertse and his team lost their opening fixture in the 2013 campaign against Evergreens, and suffered a similar fate in the Western Cape at the weekend, losing by a sole point (27-26).
Three costly yellow cards set the “Panne” back and could be blamed for the visiting team’s demise particularly as they went into the halftime break on the front foot, with a score line of 19-3, and were leading 26-15, with seven minutes remaining in the match.
Brakpan’s first yellow card was shown within seconds of the opening kick-off, when flanker Jacques Nieuwenhuis handed out a stiff-arm tackle.
Skipper Robbertse also saw yellow for retaliating after receiving a massive bite on his forearm from an opposition player who got away scot-free.
“These actions do not belong in the game and SARU will need to take control of these issues,” said Brakpan Rugby Club’s chairman, Harry Nieuwenhuis.
“The boys did not play too badly but we are of the opinion that perhaps the team did not play enough warm-up games, and were a little bit rusty.
“This is of course no excuse for ill discipline and we had three yellow cards that no team can afford at this level.”
Flanker Wickus van den Berg again played like a man possessed, and dotted down two tries in the match, while utility back Gido Horn was a handful.
This defeat by a single point is certain to wake up the “Panne”, and the two bonus points they earned (for losing within seven points and scoring four tries) could go a long way in the fight for the number one position, Pool D.
Try-scorers for Brakpan were: van den Berg (two), Horn and Jaco Lotter.
Brakpan’s u-21 team also played their first Community Cup match and were defeated 18-15.
- Meanwhile, Brakpan’s other first team, “The Lilywhites”, did duty in Rustenburg against Impala, in the Assupol Super Club Series and emerged victorious, with a bonus point in a match that ended 23-19.
Uwe Sauer, Roland Botes, JP Steyn and Martin Prinsloo scored tries for the Brakpan team.
