By Chesley Daniels
The opening of the Eastern Province Rugby Union (Epru) SCORE Grand Challenge Top 12 Competition eventually took place with hosts Trying Stars 1st XV registering a hard-fought 29-20 bonus-point win over Makhanda’s side, Grahamstown Brumbies, at the Wentzel Park Sports Ground in Alexandria on Saturday, 27 April.
The home side led 14-5 at halftime.
A fully packed Wentzel Park was the fortress venue for the two top sides who locked horns in a much anticipated Sedru derby, competing in the Premier Top 12 “Strength vs Strength” competition in front of thousands of rugby enthusiasts from both Ndlambe and Makana municipalities. This was the second win for Stars over Brumbies and the league win saw Stars continue their dominance over Brumbies in recent years.
As expected, the encounter was hard, physical, brutal and was played at a very high pace. Stars made the game fast and quick while the Brumbies’ scrums were again outstanding and their lineouts worked very well, especially the driving maul.
Trying Stars started the match with the wind conditions in their favour as Brumbies kicked off the match with the ball traveling less than 10m. Stars gave away a free kick which led to a try by Brumbies scrumhalf Cullen Williams, after deciding to take a quick tap as the visitors took an early 5-0 lead. Captain Kelvano King ensured that Stars gained much-needed momentum after conceding points with a beautiful try of his own from the restart as Garth Oosthuizen slotted the conversion, giving stars the advantage on the scoreboard 7-5.
The centre pairing of Flinn Cannon and Sihle Mendile ensured that the midfield was rock solid on defence and created good running lines ensuring that the Stars forward pack set up a driving maul which led to Sipho Bloko scoring another try for the home side. Garth Oosthuizen successfully converted as Stars went in to the break with a decent 14-5 lead.
The second half started with Stars awarded a penalty due to a kick-off infringement by the Brumbies. Brimming with confidence, Oosthuizen went for a penalty conversion, increasing the lead to 17-5. Brumbies answered with a beautiful set piece maul from a lineout, which led to them scoring a try by Garin Strydom close to the right hand corner. Stars were still leading 17-10 at this point.
The wind conditions in the second half had Trying Stars on the back foot as Brumbies utilized the wind advantage in their favour by keeping Stars in their half of the field. Utilizing their big and bulky forwards, Brumbies produced a good effort and added points on the score board again via a try by Nolen Soyes, thereby reducing the deficit to just two points with the score on 17-15 in favour of Trying Stars.
Brumbies’ forwards continued their scrum dominance and were rewarded with numerous scrum penalties, but could count themselves unlucky not to convert the pressure into points.
Trying Stars utilized their impact from the bench introducing Eric Nogayi, Charles Vena and Schalk Cannon. Schalk immediately made his presence felt and continued for the remainder of the match.
Trying Stars’ Luqmaan Mallick ensured that his side kept possession by winning the aerial battle. With the changes made, the forward pack of Stars received that added boost they were longing for. The inter play from the forwards ensured that Flinn Cannon and Sihle Mendile utilised the open space in midfield which set up winger Earl Maarman for a beautiful try. The conversion was missed as the home side again extended their lead to 22-15.
Brumbies returned with a beautiful kick which found touch on the 5m line of Stars, setting up a maul which led to a try by Bradley van Heerden, taking the score to 22-20 with mere minutes left before the final whistle.
The referee called last play after the restart and Gregan Williams, winning the aerial battle for Stars, was determined to add to their winning margin. Prop forward Wonga Wakashe and Thembi Mangwawi set up Schalk Bloko who utilized the space in front of him with a storming 20m run before passing to Luqmaan Mallick who offloaded again to Kelvano King, who then dotted down under the poles for his brace. Oosthuizen converted and the final whistle sounded with Trying Stars emerging 29-20 winners. Brumbies also received a bonus point for scoring four tries.
Stars’ coaching staff hipped praises on their centre pairing of Flinn Cannon and Sihle Mendile who ran great lines in the midfield on attack as well as their prop Tembi, who stood firm under the extremely difficult conditions and against the strong dominant scrum of Brumbies.
The evergreen captain of Stars, Kelvano King, was awarded the Grocott’s Mail/Daniels MEDIA man of the match for his outstanding and clinical performance. The current EP Mighty Elephants scrumhalf scored a brace of tries and his attacking prowess once again proved vital for his side on attack, executing his trademark tap-and-go and high intensity favourite game.
OTHER RESULTS BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES:
- Brumbies 1st Reserves beat Trying Stars 17-12
- Brumbies 2nd won 14-0
