Visitors prove too strong for local rugby teams
The Malelane and Komatipoort rugby teams will have to work hard if they want to make it to league play-offs after Saturday afternoon's losses against Barberton and Matsulu.
Barberton and Malelane’s first teams faced each other in Malalane for their first Phakisa Mayor’s League match of the season on Saturday.
Barberton were in high spirits after their second team’s victory against the Impalas of Komatipoort in the first Phakisa Mayor’s Reserve League match last weekend.
They managed to score their first try in the first few minutes of the game and converted it.
Later, Surprise Zulu managed to use his speed to get the ball and race to the try line. Charl Marais successfully converted the try.
Barberton fought back with two tries and one conversion for a half-time score of 7-19 in their favour.
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Despite returning to the field determined to even the score, Malelane could not stop Barberton from scoring another unconverted try. They followed that up with two more converted tries and a final unconverted try, despite Malelane’s earnest efforts to keep them from the try line.
The final whistle blew on a score of 7-43.
Arno Hoffman was named man of the match among the forwards and Meli Mazibuko among the backline.
The Impalas started their match against Matsulu with a lot of enthusiasm, but missed an opportunity to score a try early on. Matsulu managed to score the first try, before Brennon Jordaan put the Impalas on the scoreboard with a successful penalty kick.
Matsulu also added three more points to the scoreboard.
The Impalas struggled to regain their discipline after a series of unexplained judgements by the referee. Matsulu gained momentum and scored their second try.
READ: Impalas vat Barberton aan in seisoen se eerste ligawedstryd
In the second half, Matsulu scored another try after breaking through the Impalas defence.
The Komatipoort team fought back and Goodman Nkosi scored the team’s first try.
After the successful conversion, the score was 10-22 in Matsulu’s favour.
Several injuries resulted in positional rotations among the Impalas, which impacted on their defense.
Matsulu added another try and successful conversion to their score before Jacques Liebenberg also earned his team five points.
A mistake in the Impalas’ backline resulted in Matsulu’s final try for a full-time score of 15-36.
Keegan Visagie and Frans Gouws were elected the forward and backline players of the match.
The Impalas and their supporters would like to wish Visagie a speedy recovery after he suffered a heart attack on Saturday evening. According to club chairman, Ben Jordaan, he is currently recovering in hospital and his condition is improving.
The Impalas and Malalane can rest this weekend, but the Black Cats will face the Pumbas from Hoedspruit at KaMhlushwa Stadium at 15:30 on Saturday.
