White River rugby fights till the end

White River lost only three out of 12 matches this season, the Phakisa Premier League opening fixture against Sasol in Secunda 33-19, the away match to Witbank on May 25 and the final versus Sasol at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday evening.

They defeated Sasol at home on June 1, 35-22 and then in the knockout match on July 20, also at home, 34-27.

Due to their second place on the log, Sasol qualified to have a second bite at the cherry and played Witbank in a semi-final on July 27, a game which they won the set up the final against White River at Mbombela.

Sasol Rugby Club showed courage and character to beat White River Rugby Club 22-20.

It took Sasol up until the 61st minute to go into the lead.

White River scrum half, Junior Kotze, scored in the 11th minute when he sniped through a gap in the defensive line and beat the two last defenders. Fly half and captain Barend Smit converted.

He added a penalty to put the home side 10 points up.

Sasol full back Marinus van der Merwe and Smit traded penalties to give White River a 13-3 half-time lead.

White River were excellent in the first half. They played with passion and tenacity and controlled the tempo of the game. Sasol played well, but were forced into errors.

In the second half Sasol played more structured and disciplined rugby.

Sasol narrowed the gap with an early Van der Merwe penalty.

Sasol winger, Bertie Visser, slipped through a poor White River defence to score in the 58th minute and Van der Merwe added the two points. The score was tied, 13-13.

Three more penalties by Van der Merwe gave Sasol a 22-13 lead.

With just five minutes left, White River prop, Mervin Gilbert charged over from a five-metre tap penalty. Smit converted. The score was 22-20 in Sasol’s favour.

White River were poor in the second half. Their discipline let them down.

Sasol were deserved champions. They came out fighting with their backs to the wall in the second half. They kept it simple and did the basics very well, feeding off White River’s errors.

White River II claimed the provincial second teams’ championship with a 30-28 win over Middelburg II.

Witbank III defeated White River III 25-22 in a match that went into extra time after the teams were tied at 22-22 after 80 minutes.