Seconds’ victory secures ascent to first-ever Murray Cup semi
Toti Rugby Club thanks Kuswag High for allowing them to play the fixture on their school grounds and huge thanks to Louis Joubert for all his efforts in making the day a success at the school.
ON Saturday, 29 July, Amanzimtoti Rugby Club’s first team took on a spirited Crusaders team who certainly pitched up for a scrap at Kuswag High.
It was Toti who quickly took control of the game with good structure and ran in two tries through Kevin Buck and Werner Botha of which one was converted by Le Roux van Zyl.
Toti then seemed to take their foot off the accelerator, allowing Crusaders to run in two of their own tries to take the lead 14–12. Toti bounced back with a try by scrumhalf Matthew McDonald which left the score at 17–14. A mistake by Toti in their own half saw Crusaders take a penalty to end the first half with the scores tied at 17–17.
The second half started off with Toti once again playing to structure and putting the phases together that saw Kevin Buck follow up on a well-placed kick by Le Roux van Zyl to secure him five points under the sticks. This was converted by Van Zyl to give Toti a lead of 24–17. The game was brought to a close with Le Roux van Zyl going over for Toti’s fifth try of the day, which he converted himself. It was a day that saw all of the 15 players on the field play as a team. The Eagle Canyon Spur man of the match awards went to Pieter Harmse in the forwards and Le Roux van Zyl in the backs. The biggest hit of the day went to John Wilsnacht. The main prize of the day was the Castle Lager man of the match which was adjudicated by Schalk Liebenberg from the KZNRU, and which was awarded to centre Ryno Els.
The second rugby team met Crusaders in the quarter finals of the Castle Murray Cup’s Peter Taylor trophy on Saturday.
The game, played at Kuswag School because of Toti’s flooded fields, saw Crusaders score first to make it 5-0. Toti soon answered back through flanker Wayde Shore to level the scores. It was just before half time when Wayde Shore again crossed the line from a well-worked line-out move. Toti went into the half time with a lead of 10-5.
The second half saw Toti camp down in Crusaders half, but a lack of concentration saw Crusaders score a try to level the game at 10-10. Toti replied with a penalty by lock Jason Heins to make the final score 13-10 to Toti. This was enough to see the Toti side go through to the Castle Murray Cup semi-finals and in so doing, making history as the first Toti second team to manage this. Stand-out players among the forwards were prop Travis Clarke, flanker Wayde Shore, eighth man and captain Gerhard Ingram. In the backline, it was Leandro Steenkamp and Louis Le Grange. However, it was decided that the Eagle Canyon Spur man of the match awards went to backline player, RD Janse Van Vuuren and the forward, Dylan Kelly.
Toti Rugby Club thanks Kuswag High for allowing them to play the fixture on their school grounds and huge thanks to Louis Joubert for all his efforts in making the day a success at the school. Also a big thank you to the supporters who pitched up in their numbers. The next round – the semi-finals of the Castle Murray Cup – will see the draw taking place at Kings Park. Toti’s opponents and venue for the game will be posted on social media sites.
