Grahamstown Brumbies first rugby side kicked off their season with a convincing 36-0 win over arch rivals Winter Rose firsts, in their opening fixture of the Makana Mayoral cup competition.
Grahamstown Brumbies first rugby side kicked off their season with a convincing 36-0 win over arch rivals Winter Rose firsts, in their opening fixture of the Makana Mayoral cup competition.
The opening matches took place at the Mickey Yili Stadium. Brumbies led 12-0 at the break. The two sides started off nervously, with a few handling errors, before finding their feet.
The first 15 minutes of the game was evenly matched, as both forward packs came at each other aggressively. Brumbies, however, started to shake off the rustiness and started dominating, using their powerful, mobile forwards to set up phases.
This allowed their speedy backs to dominate with the ball. Brumbies' newly recruited big number eight, Kent Sheppard, opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a fine try, as he bulldozed his way through the defence, for flyhalf Vincent Mains to convert (7-0).
Minutes later, winger Shanon Flotman increased the lead with a well-rounded backline move to give his side a 12-0 lead at the break. The second half saw the Grand Challenge side open the gates by entertaining the large, enthusiastic crowd with their favourite brand of running rugby.
Centre Chris Mqubuli opened the scoring in the second half, while Flotman scored his second try minutes later to give Brumbies a healthy 24-0 lead late in the second half.
Captain Monray Evans, Sheppard, Gareth Burger, Deon Crouse and Heine Hopshire led the dominance in the forwards by creating gaps that resulted in major headaches for the Winter Rose side. Veteran fullback Clinton Gill and replacement flyhalf Ivor Andrews scored two further tries for Brumbies, as they ran out comfortably 36-0 winners.
In a friendly match before the first team game, Brumbies first reserves beat Wanderers firsts 27-0. Chesley Daniels is an independent reporter for Grocott's Mail.
