On a day where the wind had a major influence, it was Boland Landbou from Paarl that used the momentum it generated to its advantage in their 24-8 win over HTS Drostdy from Worcester.
On the Afgri Boland Landbou Rugby day, commonly referred to as the “Oesdag”, many tough but rewarding games were on display, none more so than the Boland Landbou versus HTS Drotsdy as the main game.
Landbou started like a house on fire, generating four penalties in the first five minutes, the last of which translated into three points off the boot of Retagen van Rooi, their flyhalf.
The Drostdy Donkies defended impressively, but ill-discipline ensured that Landbou kept on pinning them deep in their half.
For the next 25 minutes of the first half, Drostdy took control of the game. Their forwards laid a platform while the back showed intent every time they touched the ball. Again the flyhalf, Stefan van der Merwe, dominated proceedings to a large extent.
In the 18th minute Drostdy found their reward for maintaining pressure when inside centre, Kenneth Jansen, scored to take the Donkies into the lead by 8-3. Drostdy kept their foot on the pedal to prevent Landbou from coming back for the rest of the half, including a try disallowed after 24 minutes due to a forward pass.
The second half started with Drostdy leading 8-3 and more of the same followed. They had plenty of ball, but not a lot of opportunities. A penalty in the sixth minute to Landbou turned into momentum, although no points came from it.
Landbou started dominating proceedings with van Rooi kicking deep when allowed, the forwards taking scrum control and the backs running hard.
Van Rooi moved to scrumhalf in the absence of Turlon Adams. This injected additional attacking power into the Boland Landbou game, creating a further momentum shift.
Landbou’s hooker, Cilliers Viljoen, scored in the 16th minute with van Rooi converting, however much debate might arise as there seemed to have been a knock-on in the buildup, about five meters from the line.
Three minutes later Viljoen scored again off a rolling mall and van Rooi converted, taking the score to 24-8.
Drostdy tried everything to get back into the game and the Landbou half of the field, but Boland Landbou seemed adamant about defending their lead.
In the end Boland Landbou had the final say in spite of the wind.
It is still early in the season and both teams will have plenty of positives from their showing today.
Standout players from Boland Landbou include Van Rooi, Viljoen, Hans Verster (flanker) and Pieter de Jager (tighthead prop).
From HTS Drostdy the major players on the day were Jansen and Van der Merwe.
In the main curtain raiser Stellenberg broke a bit of sweat to down Worcester Gimnasium by 38-19.
The Jade Brigade enjoyed a small lead of 7-5 at half-time, but after 45 minutes it was the Bosvarke who took control leading by 19-7.
Stellenberg’s tighthead prop, Herman Lubbe, completed a brace of tries, while Nr.8, Marco Ferreira, troubled the Bosvarke with his bullocking runs.
Scorers:
Boland Landbou 24 (3) – Tries: Cilliers Viljoen (2), Dewald de Villiers. Conversions: Retagen van Rooi (3). Penalty: Van Rooi. HTS Drostdy 8 (8) – Try: Kenneth Jansen. Penalty: Stefan van der Merwe.
Stellenberg 38 (7) – Tries: Herman Lubbe (2), Marco Ferreira, Almero Keizer, Damon Perreira, Liam Smith. Conversions: Ruben Thompson (3), Stefan Roux. Worcester Gimnasium 19 (5) – Tries: Alungile Mothibe (2), Hope Dliso. Conversions: Carick Kustoor (2).
The champions of the central region, Hoërskool Trio, will face the champions of the north, Hoërskool Monument of Krugersdorp, in Kroonstad this Saturday.
