IT may not have been Dylan Kroon’s best-ever day with the boot, but he did enough under some serious pressure to secure a vital 9-5 win for the Fidelity South Coast Warriors over Richards Bay at Douglas Mitchell sports ground last Saturday.
Coach Christo Henderson knew it would be a tough, physical battle so he did his own little dance on the sideline when he saw that Richards Bay’s number one was scrumming illegally, and that their entry to the rucks was less than perfect.
Still, he kept his calm, despite his unhappiness.
Kroon landed an early penalty to give the Warriors the lead, but after that it was a major arm-wrestle.
He berated himself when he sent a second opportunity flying wide, but he found the target later in the match when it mattered.
“We’ll work on getting his rhythm back, so that he’s above 80 percent accuracy by the next game,” said Henderson.
The score remained 3-0 at half-time but Richards Bay hit back 15 minutes into the second half with a fortuitous intercept try.
The last 20 minutes were vital, where the Warriors maintained excellent discipline and showed huge dedication and determination in the face of a massive onslaught from Richards Bay.
“The boys kept their cool and stuck to the game plan. That led to the two penalties which saw us win the game,” said Henderson.
“Overall, we are pleased with the result. Richards Bay were runners-up in 2013 and are a very strong side, so to win and keep our unbeaten home record intact is good and will help us a lot down the line,” said Henderson.
The forward of the match was Juan van den Bergh, who unfortunately had to spend some time in the ‘Sin Bin’ after being incorrectly adjusted by an assistant referee for punching.
James Fourie was also sent off for ‘tackling without arms’.
It was a very physical game, and at one stage in the first half there was some serious ‘handbagging’ going on.
Fortunately things calmed down before anything got out of hand.
“Richards Bay are always very physical and always push their opposition to the limits. We did to them what they usually do to us and they did not like it at all,” said Henderson, with a suggestion of a grin.
Live-wire scrum half Chris Mitchell was the overall man of the match, and the winner of a DSTV Drifta.
Harlequins beat Hillcrest 35-12 which means they stay top of the log on 24, followed by Richards Bay on 20 and the Warriors on 19. Harlequins and Richards Bay still have to play each other.
Henderson thanked the growing support base and invited fans to come down to the ground this Saturday to enjoy more entertaining rugby.
The game is against Westville Old Boys, with the first team kicking off at 3.30pm.
“It was a tough game against Richards Bay but there can be no more slip-ups for the rest of the season,” said Henderson.
The seconds kick off at 2pm and will look to add to their 50-29 victory secured last Saturday.
Tries were scored by Boxer Slabbert (2) , Alberto van Eck, Jackson Mqadi, Sifiso Damane (2), Jade Nyman and Piet Hlatshwayo, while conversions were kicked by Van Eck (2) and Piet Hlatshwayo (2).
