Rugby league done for Warriors
The season has been characterised by slightly erratic performances, not helped by struggling at times to field anywhere near a full strength side.
IT hasn’t been the easiest of seasons for the Riversmead rugby Warriors.
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While the Springboks have enjoyed a resurgence of sorts, the Warriors have had a season similar to the beleaguered Sharks.
Early on they lost a few talented players who moved away from the area to pursue other opportunities.
They also lost some important players to injury, for example tenacious 8th man Brendan Rademeyer.
The season has been characterised by some slightly erratic performances, not helped by struggling at times to field anywhere near a full strength side.
Players with injuries have included Lunga Madlala (ribs), Cameron Camp (shoulder), Donovan Horne (concussion) and Patrick Chappel (shoulder).
It wasn’t too much of a surprise then that they failed to win the First Division South league this year.
They came pretty close though and it would have been a monumental effort considering some of the setbacks, so they can take great heart from that.
The Boks suddenly, and almost miraculously, seem to have depth in all positions.
The same could not be said for the Warriors during the year, and the think tank had to come up with some creative solutions at times.
For example, Chris Mitchell, who started rugby life as a nippy, terrier-like scrumhalf, has played flank and hooker at various stages.
Later in the season he even moved further away from the rough and tumble of the scrum than he is comfortable with, ending up as a centre.
Veteran prop Lourens Stapelberg, who is developing into a decent golfer, was deemed to have grown a few inches, and out of desperation, slotted in at lock for a late season game!
Still, through all this they have maintained a great sense of brotherhood, a smile on the face, and a willingness to get stuck in.
This was never more evident than when they had a minute’s silence before a recent game in memory of former coach Paul Flanagan, who died a few months ago.
Part of this spirit can be attributed to the influence player-coach Juan van den Berg has had, and also club president Niko Potgieter.
Not many rugby fans gave the Boks much hope of a revival.
If they can win against the Pumas in Argentina this Saturday, the ‘Bok fear’ will be well and truly back as they head to Japan for World Cup.
There’s nothing stopping the Warriors getting their mojo back for next year in order to once again dominate the league.
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