Nigel Rugby Club first and second teams advance to Valke Merlin Cup finals

Nigel Rugby Club’s first and second teams faced off against the Meyerton Knights in the Valke Merlin Cup semi-finals on August 30 at John Vorster Stadium. Nigel’s first team came out on top, securing a 28-12 victory.

Nigel had to work hard for the victory, despite countless handling errors. Each time there was a promising move, the team’s handling skills contributed to a stop in play. That played into Meyerton’s hands on several occasions.

Another area that needs work was their lineouts. Meyerton stole a few balls, and Nigel’s throws into the line-out were not up to standard. Nigel’s defence was deadly and did not allow Meyerton to launch many attacks on their goal line.

Nigel scored the first points of the match with two penalties. Thereafter, two tries were scored by the home team, and one try was converted. Near the end of the first half, Meyerton scored their first points when they crossed the whitewash. The conversion was missed.

In the second half, it was a stop-start affair, with movements struggling to materialise due to countless handling errors from both teams. Meyerton scored the first points of the second half when they were able to dot the ball down for a try and a successful conversion. That was Meyerton’s last score.

Nigel was able to score two more tries and one conversion. Nigel received a yellow card just before the first-half break. Luckily, it did not cost them in the match, as they did not concede any points while playing with 14 men.

Nigel’s second team faced Meyerton’s second team in a closely contested match that could have gone either way, ending in a 20-20 draw. Nigel scored the first points by crossing Meyerton’s try line and converting the try. Thereafter, Meyerton scored a try, conversion, and penalty.

In the second half, Nigel drew level with a penalty kick before adding a converted try. Meyerton showed their class by scoring a try, converting it, and adding three more points from a penalty, making the score Nigel 17 – Meyerton 20.

As time was running out, Nigel was awarded a penalty in Meyerton’s half and duly converted the kick to draw level. It was not long after that the final whistle blew.

The officials needed to make a phone call or two to determine which team would progress to the final. After a few minutes, the answer was relayed: the officials first needed to see which team scored the most tries. Both teams scored two tries.

The next step was to see which team scored the first try; that team would progress to the final. Nigel was the team that scored first, and thus they will contest the second team final.

The finals will be played on September 6. Nigel’s first team will play against East Rand United at 16:00, and Nigel’s second team will play Elsburg at 14:40. Matches will be contested at John Vorster Stadium in Nigel.