Revenge as Highlanders thrash Pongola

The Boschpick Newcastle Highlanders’ first and second teams have made it through to the semi finals of the Northern KwaZulu-Natal rugby league.

A resounding 62 – eight victory over Pongola on Saturday in Arbor Park cemented their place in the Castle Murray Cup Knock-outs, where they will play at home against a Premium Division club from Durban. The draw is set to take place at King’s Park on July 27.

For the Highlanders, it was sweet revenge as their blistering back line proved to be too much for Pongola. The final whistle had Highlanders tallied at nine tries to a single try from Pongola.

The Highlanders’ wing, Hadebe, number 11, showed why his teammates call him ‘Ferrari’. He scored three tries in total.

At half time, the home side were leading 33 – eight. Second half was just as fast paced, with the Highlanders playing entertaining, running rugby. The forwards and the backs combined to make a good effort.

“In the beginning we battled with the line outs. Eventually we found our target and it worked well. We were also strong in the scrums, winning the ball consistently,” said Andrè Swanepoel.

Pongola put up a good fight, but the Highlanders’ defence proved solid, with the opposition lacking the finishing touches to their scoring.

Wandile Nkosi and May Ndhela were among the outstanding back line players, while Gift Mabaso put in some ‘big hits’.

Errit Visser, Andrè Fourie and Innis Visser combined very well as loose forwards. Innis Visser won a well-deserved Man of the Match award for his outstanding performance on the field.

Points: Hadebe (No 11) – three, Fourie (No 7) – two, Nkosi (No 10) – one, Zulu (No 20) – one, Koortz (No 1) – one, Barnard (No 15) – one, Mornè Hattingh (No 9) scored 13 points with the boot while Nkosi (No 10) and Barnard (No 15) both kicked a conversion.

On Saturday, the Highlanders’ first and second teams will travel to Piet Retief for the semi final.