Roodepoort Rugby Club crush Alberton in first home game of 2023 Castle Lager Pirates Grand Challenge

Roodepoort Rugby Club christened its first home game of their 80th anniversary season in style on May 6.

Playing their second game of the Castle Lager Pirates Grand Challenge, Poorte notched up an impressive demolition of their visitors from Alberton. The win comes on the back of a tough 43-10 defeat to a Wits University team fresh off a Varsity Cup run. The margin was owed much to the disparity in match fitness as Poorte’s opening fixture against Wanderers was postponed.

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Poorte began on the best possible note, gathering the kickoff before gaining metres with every carry on their way into Alberton’s 22. The sustained pressure led to a penalty and the forwards backed themselves from five metres out, scrumhalf Kewan Gibb picking up from the base and powering over the line for the opening try. Poorte continued to keep the ball in Alberton’s half but the visitors dug in at the breakdown, forcing several penalties to stifle momentum.

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Alberton had early gains, getting deep into the Poorte half but their lineout execution let them down, as did their kicking, missing a penalty from about 30 metres out. While doing well to regularly steal possession, Alberton’s only release was from the boot and this would eventually lead to an error. The Alberton flyhalf scuffed a clearance which Poorte scrambled to collect, a pop-pass going to Dylan Mostert who broke several tackles before rounding the last defender to walk over for the lead-extending try.

Jeandre van den Heever would be sin-binned for a late tackle but Alberton failed to get the three points after opting for a shot at goal. A knock-on gave Alberton a scrum near the centre of the field but after scrappy handling, Poorte recovered and broke with purpose, breaking tackles as they crashed over in the corner. Alberton’s captain had stern words after the third try but it wasn’t enough as on the stroke of half time, more good work in the lineout and strong running gave Poorte a fourth and a 24-0 at half time.

More stern words by Alberton’s coaching staff demanded a big response before the game got out of reach. There was more direction from the visitors but less than 10 minutes into the second half, a set move from a Poorte scrum inside their own half split the Alberton defence in two. Efficient moving of the ball through the hands and strength from the forwards earned the fifth try. The beginning of the end came a few minutes later as another Alberton clearance was gathered and run back, poor tackling tackles and brute force making it 38-0.

The pattern was now established and Alberton had little left in the tank. Poorte marched deep again, earning a lineout from a penalty. Another smart set-play bamboozled Alberton and captain Tristan Dullisear waltzed through the absent defence. Standing behind their try-line while the kicker attempted his seventh conversion, one Alberton player shouted, “Let’s do something now boys, anything boys!”

The dimming light resembled the lull in the action as Poorte took their foot off the gas. The introduction of a few substitutes reinvigorated matters and Poorte ran in three more tries against a dejected defence already with one foot on the bus. Flyhalf Tiaan Naude put the cherry on top of a solid kicking display, nailing a long-range effort through the uprights to seal a convincing ten-try, five conversions 63-0 dismantling.

“The performance was good. I felt that we had a good rhythm and showed effective cohesion. We had solidity at set plays which gave us a good platform to launch from. We won’t read too much into the score line as we know Alberton is a good side,” said Poorte head-coach, Neil Kalify.

“We had a good outing but we need more game time more match fitness. The team is newish so still getting to know each other but there were a lot of positives, we are very happy with the result,” added Neil.

Next up, Raiders travel to Witpoortjie on May 13 for an all-day festival of schoolboy and club rugby action.