Vryheid Rugby Club vs Piet Retief – A fight to the end
"This kind of thing is very special and it's what every coach works for," says Rich Verster. "A team that, when the chips are down and there is almost no glimmer of hope, will stand up, face the music and fight to the very end."
VRYHEID Rugby Club’s first and second teams travelled to Piet Retief last weekend for the start of the second round in the Northern KZN league.
The secon
d team took to the field first, against the Piet Retief team who defeated them 27 – 20 in the first round of the league, putting Piet Retief first in the standings with Vryheid in second.
Last Saturday’s match ended somewhat closer than the first round as far as points go, but Vryheid missed victory against the hosts by a single point as the match ended with the scoreboard showing Vryheid 24 – 25 Piet Retief.
Piet Retief’s seconds retained the top spot in the Northern KZN League, with Vryheid hanging on to second place so far.
Man of the Match for the Forwards was Kobie Marè and for the Backs, veteran, Mundus van Niekerk.
Following the thrilling first team encounter between Vryheid and Piet Retief in the first round, where Vryheid secured a win of 26 – 17, putting them ahead in the points standings, the two teams faced off once again in a packed Piet Retief sports ground.
“It was a tough game up front,” stated Head Coach, Rich Verster, “with not one of the forwards giving an inch away and Piet Retief spent the first twenty minutes in Vryheid’s half…”
With Vryheid on the backfoot and relentless pressure from Piet Retief, the hosts were able to score in the fifth and thirteenth minutes of the match, but Devin Aspden responded with a well-worked try by the backline 23 minutes into the clash. The two teams played a territorial battle, according to Verster, kicking most of their possession away.
“Vryheids very dangerous back three ran rampant the last twenty minutes of the first half,” added Verster, “with Piet Retief continuously kicking.”
Francois Scheepers and Sticks Mbatha both scored long distance tries in the corners to put Vryheid ahead at halftime 20 – 12.
Piet Retief owned the second half however, scoring two well-deserved tries, after grinding away the metres to the tryline, “but Vryheid showed a lot of guts defending Piet Retief’s onslaught,” stated Verster.
The first team match was played right down to the wire, as Piet Retief led from the second half of play. Still trailing 24 – 20 behind Piet Retief, with only two minutes of play remaining, Vryheid had a chance to score with a well-worked move in the Piet Retief 22m, but dropped the ball in front of the tryline.
Referee, Pieter Aucamp, called the last movement of the game with the ball going to the hosts in the dying moments of the match and things were looking bleak for the men in maroon.
As Piet Retief fed the ball into the scrum, it sped out Vryheid’s way and hooker, Mmeli Dlamini struck at just the right moment. Scrumhalf, Chris van Rooyen, scored in the corner, lighting up the score to put Vryheid a single point ahead of Piet Retief, 24 – 25 at the final whistle.
In his debut match, Mmeli Dlamini took the honour of Man of the Match for the Forwards, while Devin Aspden took the same honour for the Backs.
“This kind of thing is very special and it’s what every coach works for,” says Rich Verster. “A team that, when the chips are down and there is almost no glimmer of hope, will stand up, face the music and fight to the very end.”
“This win in the absolute last minute shows how rugby reveals the true character of men,” he added. “Hats off to rivals, Piet Retief.”
