Grahamstown Brumbies Rugby 1st XV beat Orlando Eagles from Thornhill 36-30 in a friendly encounter as part of their 20th Anniversary Celebrations at the Oval on Saturday.
The Oval Sports Ground was the venue for this friendly encounter that was well attended. The young Brumbies side went in to the game as favourites although they rested most of their senior players for the upcoming league.
After a dominant and one sided first half that saw Brumbies leading comfortably 31-3 at halftime, the favourites fell asleep in the second half that saw the visitors stage a remarkable comeback.
Brumbies as the overwhelming favourites for this contest, found themselves 19-0 within the first 15 minutes of the game.
The Brumbies back line ran their opponents to pieces during the first half. Young fly half Luciano Steyn Didloft brilliantly fed his backs and was in total control. Newcomer Lyle Julius (fullback) enjoyed a brilliant game in his first outing for the club, scoring a brace of tries with his explosive pace from the back. Brumbies scored five tries in the first half and took a healthy 31-3 at changeover.
The second half saw a spirited Eagles side staging an enormous comeback. The Thornhill side put the home side under pressure, scoring four fine tries in the second half. Brumbies could only managed to score one try in the second half. Eagles mobile forwards took charge in front and through the ball around, launching wave after waves of attacks. This led to tries as they caught the home side off guard. The home side lost focus and concentration in the second half that saw the visitors neatly took their chances. Brumbies began to panic as the score reads 36-30 in injury time, as Eagles almost staged an upset comeback win. The score remained the same after the full time whistle that gave Brumbies a deserved 36-30 win.
Young scrumhalf Cullen Williams was voted Man of the Match for his gutsy and brilliant all round performance. Athi Mfazwe (centre), Julius (fullback) and Didloft (flyhalf), also had outstanding games in the backline, and were on fire on attack with ball in hand. Captain Monray Evans (lock) and Ethan September (8thman) were the irons in front both on attack and defence.
Brumbies Head Coach Ricardo Abrahams told Grocott’s Mail that he is not entirely happy with the win. He believed his side could have won by a bigger margin especially with their 31-3 lead at half time.
“Our players did brilliantly in the first half, but lack concentration and went in to a relax mode in the second half. There are a lot of positives we can take out of the game but still a lot of work that lies ahead. This we have to rectify with the upcoming league and Gold Cup.”
Brumbies will play against Alderonians in Addo in the opening round of the Gold Cup Qualifier.
