Vryheid Rugby Club – Clash at the Bay comes down to the wire

IN A nailbiting encounter at Richard’s Bay on Saturday, Vryheid Rugby Club battled long time rivals, Richard’s Bay Rugby Club, right down to the wire, with Vryheid’s first team securing victory by just the skin of their teeth.

Vryheid’s second team faced Richard’s Bay’s second team in their first contact session of the season, starting off well in the first half and scoring two tries, both of which were unfortunately disallowed. At half time the scores were even, with neither of the teams putting any points on the board. However, the second half saw the Bay team racking up 24 points, while Vryheid failed to score, bringing the score to 24-0 in favour of Richard’s Bay at the final whistle.

Junior Barnard and Tris Nel were both selected as Man of the Match for the second team.

In the first team match, Vryheid dominated within the first five minutes, overpowering the opposition’s forwards early in the match. Gerrit Venter went on to score shortly before the end of the first half, bringing the score to 5-0. Richard’s Bay, however, responded by scoring three opportunistic tries before the half time whistle blew.

Starting the second half of the game trailing the opposition by 13 points, the outcome appeared bleak for Vryheid’s first team, as line-outs did not go well for them. However, after a few last minute changes, seeing Head Coach and ex Cheetahs player, Rich Verster, joining his team on the field in the last ten minutes of play, as well as a few words of motivation and encouragement from team captain, Andrè Ellis, Vryheid bounced back, pulling out all the stops and proving themselves to be at a level of fitness far superior to that of the opposition, according to Verster, who has been hard at work training the team since the beginning of the season.

With five minutes to go before the final whistle, Vryheid could boast putting up some good phases in their retaliation against the formidable first team from Richard’s Bay, with the super fast and dangerously agile Stix Mbatha scoring between the posts and Jandri Barnard converting the try.

In the dying moments of the game, Verster delivered a good cross kick, with Wessie Van Der Westhuizen collecting the ball in the air. The ball was played between Welcome Steele and Verster, with a ruck being formed and then passed out to the backs. Pienaar Breytenbach delivered the team to victory with a final try, which was also converted by Barnard, securing a close but brilliant win against the Richard’s Bay team at their home ground.

Man of the Match for the first team went to Danie Rudolph and Stix Mbatha.

“It’s a great win for Vryheid Rugby Club,” says Verster, who is also confident that the squad is ready to take on any challenge at this point, being mentally strong and physically fit. Players will have their chance to prove Verster right this weekend, when they meet 2014 Weber Cup winners, Hluhluwe Rugby Club at their home ground in Hluhluwe.

In other Vryheid Rugby Club news, the club will be hosting South African band, ‘A Touch of Class’ on March 28. It promises to be a fun-filled evening for the whole family, offering jumping castles for the children and a cash bar and braai facilities for the adults, as well as dancing and live music. Tickets will be on sale at Vryheid Rugby Club, Eddie’s Butchery or from Joalien on 082 610 0906 or Bernice on 083 212 7903.