Toti 1sts break UKZN Impi curse with 25-10 win

AMANZIMTOTI Rugby Club’s 1st XV travelled to a chilly Pietermaritzburg on Saturday, 11 June to take on FNB UKZN Impi, a side that has had the measure of Toti over the past two seasons.

This time around however, it was Toti who walked away with honours with a 25-10 win over the students.

The Toti pack of forwards, who have established themselves as one of the most powerful in the league, laid the platform for the win with a dominant display over the home team pack. This coupled with some outstanding rush defense had the desired effect of starving the dangerous Impi back division of go forward ball, which is something that they thrive on to keep opposition defenses busy.

After a closely contested opening quarter of an hour, Toti started to take command of the game and went into a 20-3 half time lead, thanks to tries from winger Mynhard van Schalkwyk and tight head prop Thinus Volker, both of which were converted by Jaco de Jager who was also successful with two penalty kicks.

The second half saw the students come out of the sheds with new resolve, and it wasn’t long before they closed the gap on the visitors with a converted try to make it a 10-point ball game going into the last quarter of the game. With 10 minutes to go, the game was effectively over as a contest when number eight Conrad Mostert peeled off the back of an advancing Toti scrum to score Toti’s third try. The conversion attempt went just wide to leave the score on 25-10 to a Toti team relieved to have finally broken the UKZN Impi curse.

The Eagle canyon man of the match awards went to Conrad Mostert in the forwards and Matthew Mc Donald in the backline.

On Saturday, Toti second side kicked off the top five round on a high when they beat Impi 34-10.

The first half saw a new-looking Impi side putting Toti under huge pressure. They scored first and were 5-0 up before fullback Charl Oozstuizen went over for Toti’s first try to make it 5-5 . Toti took the lead just before half time when scrumhalf Arie Van der Walt managed to put over a drop goal from the base of a ruck. Half time score was 8-5.

It was the return of injured flyhalf Dan Janse van Rensburg that brought some much-needed spark in the backline at the start of the second half. Toti’s dominance in the scrum and line-outs continued and they managed to score four tries to one. Outside centre Tyron Brand, inside centre Jacques Blignaut, fullback Louis Le Grange and wing Dian Van Rooyen all scored. Three conversions by prop Jason Heins helped to take the game away from Impi and give Toti a great victory and the five log points.

Thank you to sponsor Johan Keet from Spur who named flanker Wayed Shore as the Eagle canyon forward man of the match and Dan Janse van Rensburg as the backline player of the match.

The third team had a bye.

Once again a big thank you to the families and supporters who made the trip up to Maritzburg to support the players.

This Saturday, 18 June sees all three Toti teams in action at Hutchison Park. Firstly at noon, the third team will play for league honours where a win against their second placed opposition will see Toti win the Foaden Bowl for 2016. This game will be followed by the second team at 1.30pm in a game that will decide the third position on the log going forward and the first team currently clear in third spot at 3pm against Varsity College. The players ask that the entire Amanzimtoti community go down on Saturday to support the guys who always lift their game when the Toti crowd get behind them and become vocal on the side lines.