It was another day of red-hot rugby in the MRU Ehlanzeni Premier League last weekend as Nelspruit and White River drew their match, while Barberton triumphed over an improved Lydenburg outfit.

In the first round of matches the weekend prior, Nelspruit kicked their season off right with a win over defending champions Barberton, while White River thumped Lydenburg. This got the season going in an intriguing way and set things up for an interesting second round as the two victorious sides locked horns in White River and the others faced off at Coronation Park in Barberton.

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Barberton 3 kicked off the day against Lydenburg 2, and it was the visitors who just managed to edge the hosts by winning 24-22. Barberton 2 then took on the UXi Pumas Rugby Institute, and the latter secured a resounding 57-10 victory. Finally, the two first teams from Barberton and Lydenburg faced off.

Hoping to improve on their first-round result, Lydenburg put on a much better showing against Barberton, never allowing them to run away with the game. In the end, though, Barberton ran out 30-17 victors to grab their first win of the season.

White River hosted Nelspruit on Saturday. All three sides from both clubs played great matches. In the third team game, Nelspruit 3 ran in six tries to White River 3’s two, ensuring they won the match 40-14 to continue Nelspruit 3’s victorious start to the season. The second team match was a much closer affair as both teams scored four tries apiece. It ultimately came down to the success from the kicking tee.

Nelspruit 2 successfully converted each of the tries, while White River 2 missed two conversions but still managed to slot over a penalty. This ensured a nail-biting finish, that Nelspruit 2 ultimately won 28-27. If the second team match was anything to go by, then the first team encounter was going to be thrilling, to say the least.

It lived up to its billing, as the match see-sawed back and forth, with momentum never settling on one end of the scales. If Nelspruit scored, White River would retaliate, and vice versa. Little could be done to separate the two teams as they stayed within a try of each other going into the final 10 minutes.

With Nelspruit leading, the hosts needed to rally up some fight in the dying moments of the game. This they did, crashing over the whitewash to draw matters level at 27-27. Nelspruit then went on the offensive in search of the win, but White River’s defence stood firm and they did not let Nelspruit through.

The match ended at 27-27, meaning White River stay top of the log after the second round of fixtures, with Nelspruit in second. Barberton is in third and Lydenburg fourth.