The Brumbies, opened their Mayoral Cup campaign with a bonus point 26-7 win over Sedru Champs Lily White on Saturday 22 February at a packed Oval. The opening round of the competition saw some entertaining rugby on display. Eastern registered a hard-fought 19-15 win over Wanderers, while the visiting Bedford Crusaders proved too good for Swallows in their friendly encounter with a 22-19 win.
The main game of the day was without doubt the highlight of a full programme of rugby. After a 7-7 first half score between Brumbies and Lily White, the young Brumbies side pulled off a second-half dominance and showed their class to overcome an unfocused Blues side.
The first half saw Brumbies making too many enforced errors and a lot of scoring opportunities went begging. It was then the Blues side who put some pressure on the favourites and started throwing the ball around. The game was very physical with the Sedru Champs out to prove a point and eager to beat the Super League side.
Brumbies loose forward Ethan September scored the first try in the right-hand corner after some good passage of play. Luciano Steyn Didloft slotted the conversion from the corner as Brumbies took a 7-0 lead. Brumbies then missed numerous scoring opportunities while Blues Akhona Ndzena (centre) dotted down to level matters 7-7 at halftime.
Brumbies came out with a different mindset in the second half as their speedy backline came to the party. Three further tries came at the hands of Athi Mfazwe, Cullen Williams and Declan Muller. Brumbies forwards Wonga Wakashe, Ethan September, Monray Evans and Garrin Strydom provided the spark up front with some storming runs and graft work. Athi Mfazwe, Didloft and Eldrico Kivitts were outstanding on attack causing constant threats and headaches for their opponents. Lily White’s speedy backs also showed some brilliance on attack with ball in hand and tested Brumbies defences throughout. In the end, the Brumbies was just too strong for the Sedru Champs and came out deserved winners.
Brumbies captain Monray Evans told Grocotts Mail his side still has a lot of hard work ahead. He said although his team won against a determined Blues side, they should have scored more tries.
“We rested most of our senior players for this Mayoral Cup to give our exciting and talented youngsters a chance. We want to make sure we prepare our senior players for the upcoming league. There is still a lot of work before the league starts, but we are positive that everything will fall into place.”
Eastern overcame a deficit of 7-15 to narrowly clinched a hard-fought 19-15 win in the end. A late try by Eastern secured the win for their side in a very exciting game of rugby. Wanderers dominated most of the game and should kick themselves not to pull an upset win. But full credit to Eastern for a remarkable comeback and patience towards the end.
Bedford Crusaders forwards dominated affairs and ensured a fine 22-19 win over Swallows in their friendly encounter. The visitors forwards were pumped up and dominated matters upfront, especially with their powerful scrums. Swallows launched a late second-half attack through their young backs, but it was too little too late.
