First step to Community Cup 2015 is complete
Brakpan win in Potch to stay in the chase for a spot in next year's Community Cup.
The long journey to the 2015 Cell C Community Cup commenced for the Brakpan Rugby Club’s first team, when they played their first play-off match against Vaal Reefs, at Olen Park, in Potchefstroom, on Saturday, September 6.
Stand-in skipper Jacques Nieuwenhuis’s men were required to dig deep in Potch in order to keep their dream of returning to the country’s elite club competition for a third successive year alive.
Prop Jason Arundel was sent off within the first 10 minutes for two separate high tackles, which forced the “Panne” to play 80 per cent of the match with 14 players.
After the team went into the halftime break 19-14 down, a big effort was required from the men in green in the second period and that is exactly what they delivered.
Brakpan amassed 16 points in total in the second half, with the experienced heads of Nieuwenhuis, Theo Bekker, Gido Horn and Wikus van der Berg making the difference in the end, to ensure a 30-19 victory.
Horn and van der Berg were particularly good after coming off the bench to swing the fortunes of the tie in the Panne’s favour.
Point-scorers on the day for the men from Bosman Stadium were: tries: Rownin Roets, JP Steyn, Horn, penalty try. Conversions: PJ Beukes (two). Penalties: Beukes (two).
The team will now face-off against the Lions Rugby Union’s Wanderers, at Wits University, on Saturday, September 13, at 1pm, in the next step of their Community Cup qualification process.
“The team is ready to go and we are very positive for the upcoming game,” said club chairman Harry Nieuwenhuis.
