Roodepoort Rugby Club (Poorte) hosted a friendly against Raiders hailing from the south of Johannesburg on Saturday, June 20, at their new home grounds at Hoërskool Florida.

According to coach Victor Volschenk, this is Poorte’s first year playing in the Pirates Grand Challenge League, which is the top league in the Golden Lions Rugby Union roster.

“We are still getting accustomed to the higher pace maintained by the top teams,” he says, adding that, measured against their performance against Raiders earlier in the year, there is definitely a lot of improvement in their standard of play.

“The results may not have been what we want, but we will get there. There is a marked improvement in both our attacking and defensive game.

“We are using every game as a learning opportunity and we are confident that we will be on top form and bringing the competition to this league soon.”

The day’s games were dominated by Raiders with Poorte’s U19s suffering a 37–7 defeat, while the U21s had no choice but to accept a 10–3 hiding.

The 3rd teams were much more evenly matched with Poorte narrowly missing the mark with a 19–17 loss.

Raiders’ second team took the win with 19–5 despite an almighty fight put up by Poorte.

The first team clash sealed the deal with Raiders taking an easy 34–12 win.

“We always knew it would not be a case of simply coming into the higher league and causing an upset,” says Volschenk.

“We are determined to continue our path of growth and doing better with every match.”