Fidelity Moor Cup Round Three – Featured Durban Blog

The third round of the Moor Cup got off to a cracking start with a bruising encounter between Your Communication College Rovers and Ethekweni Refractories Amanzimtoti.  The Toti Terriers managed to hold Rovers for 30 minutes but then Rovers flyhalf Gavin Scott cut open the Toti Terriers defence like a hot knife through butter, scoring a majestic individual try.  It was Scott again who unlocked Toti to set-up Grant Rattray for Rovers second try. A delighted Scott said afterwards, “It was awesome playing flyhalf today deputising for Captain Chris Jordan, who was injured.  At flyhalf you can attack the line better and control the game, we were getting too frustrated in the first half, but our coaches reminded us to be calm, stick to our structure and the result will take care of itself, credit needs to go to our coaches.”
(Your Communication Rovers 19, Ethekweni Refractories Amanzimtoti 0)

In Pietermaritzburg, the UKZN Impies with Donald Ngwenya at the helm as coach bounced back against Jaguars by 33-26. UKZN scored five tries and got the all-important bonus point.  The relieved coach said, “This was a tough encounter and the Jaguars were resilient.  I believe Jags who I coached for a good few seasons will fight on and survive the drop this year. Last week we underestimated the South Coast Warriors by resting 11 of our first team players, due to a grueling Varsity Shield campaign, which cost us the match.  We are targeting a top 6 spot and I’m confident we will reach our goal.”
(UKZN Impies 33, Fidelity Security Jaguars 26)

Richards Bay caused the upset of the season when they downed Varsity College 21-20 at their home venue.  The newly promoted Richards Bay outfit is showing that they have not gained promotion to just make up numbers and that they are here to compete and have their sights firmly set on remaining in the premier league.
(Richards Bay 21, Varsity College 20)

Mancosa Zululand Rhinos managed to sneak home against the South Coast Warriors 38-34 with a narrow victory.  Both teams scored five tries but in the end it was the steady boot of Jors Danhauser, who has maintained a 100 % kicking record in the Moor Cup, making the difference between the two teams. Danhauser said, “We’ve set our goals and with the premier league being reduced to eight teams next year we don’t want to be in the bottom three. We have targeted a few teams and the Warriors were one of them.  It’s going to be a colossal struggle for survival in the premier league.”
(Mancosa Zululand Rhinos 38, South Coast Warriors 34)

In our featured game that took centre stage at the Growthpoint KINGS PARK, Newcastle Highlanders were beaten convincingly by Bidvest Insurance Crusaders.
(Bidvest Insurance Crusaders 50, Newcastle Highlanders 14)

PLAYER PROFILE
This week we profile Gavin Scott who proved to be the x-factor for Rovers against Amanzimtoti.
Gavin Scott is director of Corogains Sports, who supply sporting equipment and are based in Durban.  Gavin said, “The Rovers camp is awesome with a good blend of youth and experience.  I enjoy the coaching style at the club and the vibe in the camp.   We target one game at a time but we have our sights set on winning the Moor Cup and representing KwaZulu-Natal at the lucrative Gold Cup.”

Head Coach Robert du Preez has made just three changes to our Cell C Sharks team named to play the Jaguares in our round seven Vodacom Super Rugby clash in Durban.

Beast Mtawarira, who was unavailable for selection last week due to the death of his grandmother, makes a welcome return to our starting line-up along with fellow Springbok Stephan Lewies, who replaces Ruan Botha in the number 5 jersey.

Botha joins Thomas du Toit and Philip van der Walt, who is returning from injury, on the bench for this match.  Chiliboy Ralepelle who was a late withdrawal from last week’s team with a quad strain has also been named on the bench.

Du Preez has always maintained that this competition will require a squad effort and the impetus provided by our bench is going to be very important on Saturday, especially considering the physicality of the match.

Experienced Cell C Sharks scrumhalf Michael Claassens expects a tough battle on Saturday.

“The Jaguares are a tough side to play against.  They are a competitive team who are made up of international players and they bring massive physicality to their game.

“Discipline is going to be important.  We are still positive after last week’s match and we will be up for this game.”

Commenting on our team’s 2017 campaign Claassens said, “We’ve come a long way as a team and we are definitely on the right track.  Building a team requires time together and consistency.  We have great respect for our coach and we have all bought into the plan and we all know what we are working towards.”