Roodepoort claims U/19 title, narrowly loses out on 1sts trophy
Roodepoort missed out on its 10th PGC title, due to a late drop-goal for Pukke.
Roodepoort Rugby Club’s U/19 side swept the Pirates team aside, although the first team lost out to a late drop goal against Pukke in the Pirates Grand Challenge finals.
The U/19 side kicked the day at Wits off for Poorte, as they faced Pirates Rugby Club in their final, a fixture which on paper should’ve been a real humdinger. The Poorte boys had a very different image in mind however, as they swept the team from Greenside aside.
The first portion of the first half was a cagey affair, with both teams refusing to budge. But soon enough, the Roodepoort boys found their feet and began utilising the speed of their back line to run their way around Pirates.
Poorte were not only strong on the offensive however, as they held Pirates at bay for the entire first half, going into the break with a 20–0 lead. Pirates drew first blood in the second half with an early try. Roodepoort’s U/19s kept their cool however, and dominated a physical second half to end the game 34–14 victors, and claim the title.
Next up was Roodepoort’s first team, which tackled North West University (Pukke) on Wits’ A-rugby field, in what would be the match of the day.
Despite a strong performance against UJ the previous weekend, Roodepoort went into the game as the underdogs, as they barely qualified for the semis, only doing so on a points difference. However, Poorte’s determination and never-say-die attitude shone bright on a chilly Highveld night.
The first half was a nervy one for Poorte, as their first try went unconverted while Pukke were on-point from the start. The physical game that Roodepoort was playing looked as if it would tire the forwards out in the second half, but their experienced legs refused to grow weary. If anything, Roodepoort seemed to grow stronger as the clock ticked along.
But by the time the last 10 minutes came round, Roodepoort found themselves behind by one point, the score being 23–22. However, super-sub Steven-Matt Griffiths, who had come off the bench in the second half, slotted a monster 55m drop-goal to hand Poorte a two-point lead.
The phenomenal effort from Griffiths wasn’t quite enough though, as Pukke’s BF van Staden slotted a drop-goal with less than five minutes to play. Pukke simply ground out the dying moments from thereon to defend their title and claim a nail-biting 26–25 victory for their ninth Pirates Grand Challenge title.
You can catch a replay of Steven-Matt Griffiths’ phenomenal drop-goal right here:
https://www.facebook.com/roodepoortrugby/videos/2201233506825288/
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