Curro Nelspruit emerge as deserving winners at Pretoria rugby fixture
Nelspruit Curro went all-out at the Pretoria Curro tournament and edged out their rivals.
Curro travelled to Pretoria for their first full rugby fixture of the 2019 season, against Curro Hazeldean. After a very good 2018, there was much expectation from the Nelspruit teams. The day started off with the u/14 boys playing in their first high school rugby match.
Our boys did not disappoint, with fly half Jodi Berlington controlling the game and getting his backline away. The backline took these opportunities with gusto and went into half time 31-0 up. After the break, the team from Hazeldean set up some phase play but could not stop the visitors, with Nelspruit winning 43-0.
The u/16s then took to the field and immediately showed their dominance in a free running match. Notable contributions were from scrumhalf Jaco Odendaal and eighth man PJ Maloka, who scored three tries apiece. Our boys simply outplayed their opponents and did not allow them possession.
The Hazeldean team could not keep up with the fast pace play from the visitors and their defensive lines crumbled under the constant pressure. Nelspruit were deserving 64-0 winners.
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The u/15 match was a closer contest and the team from Hazeldean were out to avenge the 76-0 loss from the previous year. The first phases of play were filled with several unforced errors from both teams and this disrupted the usual high tempo of Nelspruit.
The hosts were determined to get use off the ball incidents to slow down play. This worked to a point, but was quickly put into line by the referee. The half-time score was 7-0 to the visitors. In the second half Hazeldean continued with their negative play, but the Nelspruit team began to string multiple phases together and were rewarded with scoring opportunities, with Willem Blom scoring two tries. Nelspruit ran out 26-5 winners.
The main match was the 1st XV match, in which Hazeldean wanted to prevent a whitewash. The match began with the larger forwards trying to dominate the collisions and cross the advantage line. The defences held strong from both sides.
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Nelspruit came close to scoring in the half, but forward passes cost them on multiple occasions. Going into the break, the scores were level at 0-0, with Hazedean missing a penalty kick in front of the poles. In the second half the accuracy of our boys’ passes improved with their support players running penetrating lines that created gaps in the Hazeldean defensive lines. Nelspruit used the space and got behind the sticks twice in the second half. The hosts scored a solitary consolation try for the final score of 12-5 to Nelspruit.
