Rhodes first rugby team fought off a late comeback from Walter Sisulu University (WSU) to win their Eastern Cape Intervarsity rugby fixture 17-7.
Rhodes first rugby team fought off a late comeback from Walter Sisulu University (WSU) to win their Eastern Cape Intervarsity rugby fixture 17-7.
Having led 7-0 at half-time, the hosts defended well to maintain the gap and keep the vocal home crowd in jubilant mood.
Rhodes opened the scoring through vice-captain Jürgen Stroebel in the early stages of the first half.
Shortly after half-time, they extended their lead through a penalty from full-back Charlie Gird.
The hosts capped off their scoring through a second try, this time courtesy of Stroebel’s fellow lock, Simon Quinn.
Once again, Gird made no mistake in converting. WSU surged back in the closing stages of the game and were finally rewarded through a try from Somila Mantayi, which was converted by Kwezi Zintu.
However, their efforts were ultimately in vain. Rhodes’s head coach, Qondakele Sompondo, hailed Stroebel and captain Matthew King for instilling a good work ethic in the squad, stating:
“For the first time in my four years at Rhodes, my players didn’t go out on Friday night.”
Reflecting on his pre-game team talk, Sompondo said: “I only told the players two things: after they were booed by WSU supporters during the warm-up, I said that this was normal for big games.
I also told them that the game-changer would be how we played without the ball, because we knew what we could do with it.”
Sompondo was satisfied that the players lived up to his expectations in this regard. He also stated his belief that Rhodes would qualify for the Varsity Shield in next July’s University Sports South Africa (USSA) tournament “without a shadow of a doubt”.
Stroebel, meanwhile, hailed the “incredible feeling” of scoring his first try of the season and praised King for his performance at scrum-half. He also claimed that Rhodes’s forwards “dominated” their opposition.
WSU head coach Sipho Metula had no complaints about being beaten by a “more tactical” Rhodes outfit, but admitted to wishing the game could have carried on for longer.
Both sides will take positives from the fixture and will be hoping to improve even further before next year’s USSA clash in East London.
