Your Communications College Rovers came away with a comfortable enough victory in their fourth round Fidelity Security Premier Division game against an improved Varsity College outfit when they beat the Durban North club side 33-19 last Friday evening.
Rovers might not have been all that happy with their game with their backs seemingly to be out of touch on the night but one has to give credit where credit is due as their hosts defended remarkably well shutting down many of the 2016 champions threatening moves. At the end of it all Rovers did squander a number of try scoring opportunities but again Varsity College do deserve a little credit for their tenacious never say die work on defence.
Even though Rovers were no where near their best they still managed to outscore their tenacious hosts with five tries to two in an entertaining game that saw their speedster wing Sipho Mkize leading the way with two touchdowns. Scrum half Grant Williams, hooker Chris Kemp and flyhalf Gavin Scott crossed for the balance with Scott converting four of the five tries.
Varsity College replied with tries from No 8 Kyle Hetherell and Blake Mingay coming off the bench, while skipper Josh Fourie slotted two penalties and Duran Krummeek kicked a conversion.
Across the way at the home of Bidvest Insurance Crusaders in Ranleigh Crescnt, the home side were also not happy with their performance against their visitors from Zululand, Richards Bay after beating the tough men from The Bay 22-12 last Saturday. Whilst managing to beat their visitors, as hard as they tried, they couldn’t pick up their fourth try for the bonus point. As eThekwini Refractories Amanzimtoti and Varsity College found out in the earlier rounds, and now Crusaders, Richards Bay are certainly not going to be a walkover this season.
Crusaders were undoubtedly their own worst enemy in a game of lost opportunities with a number of telling errors that found them floundering somewhat. For head coach Ronnie Uys it has been a pretty frustrating start to the season as his charges are a far better combination than what their weekly results are showing. Like Varsity College they do need to start believing in themselves.
For Crusaders wing Chris van Niekerk crossed for two tries and centre Steve Strydom crossed for the third. Merlyn Pieterse kicked two conversions and a penalty. Richards Bay replied with tries from No 8 Derik Ehlers and wing Frank Hughes.
SA Home Loans Durban Collegians had another runaway win thumping Jaguars 84-6 and will be only truly tested for the first time when they face Amanzimtoti this evening (Wednesday) on KP 10 at 8pm.
Mancosa Zululand Rhinos seem to be on a roll having now won three of four games after beating FNB UKZN Impi 24-19 and are now handily placed on the log table. However knowing all too well that there are still tougher times to come they will be able to prepare themselves for the more difficult games ahead.
In the other game played last Saturday the South Coast Terriers from Amanzimtoti ran riot against Newcastle winning 105-7 and hopefully the game was not looked upon as practice run in preparation for their big clash against Collegians this evening. College Rovers will travel to Richards Bay on Saturday and Varsity College will be entertained by the South Coast Warriors in Port Shepstone. Jaguars will be at home to Zululand Rhinos and Crusaders will travel to the capital to face UKZN Impi at the Peter Booysen Stadium this evening.
In the First Division Jaguar Land Rover Durban Hillcrest look like the side to beat after another runaway victory this time destroying Ballito Dolphins 72-0 while out on the Bluff, Westville eked out a narrow 27-26 win against their hosts Harlequins and Maritzburg Collegians picked up their first victory of the season winning 45-17
The second in the Centralised Fixtures series for the Under 20 Frank Norris League, will be hosted by College Rovers this evening. The hosts will be playing Crusaders in the main game at 8pm. Varsity College meet Jaguars and UKZN play South Coast Warriors. Rovers will also play Crusaders in the Under 20 ‘B’ Kings Park Challenge Cup League
The post Club Rugby Roundup appeared first on Sharks Rugby.
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