By Chesley Daniels
St. Marks Alicedale 1st XV caused a major upset this past weekend when they produced a clinical 23-19 win over powerhouse Grahamstown Brumbies 1st XV in a preseason-friendly rugby encounter at the Alicedale Sports Ground. The home side’s first-half dominance saw them heading 13-7 in front at halftime.
What makes this win extra special and memorable for the Alicedale side is that they managed to beat Brumbies for the first time in its Club’s history since their first meeting way back in 2000. Brumbies recently beat St Marks twice this year; their first friendly at Lavender Valley and the second also at the Lavender Valley in a pool match at the Brumbies Easter Tournament, in which Brumbies were also crowned the Champs.
Brumbies are the second-best rugby team in the Sedru region behind Trying Stars and also competes in the Epru Grand Challenge Top 12 Competition, while St Marks competes in the Adams Cup.
First half
On Saturday afternoon, the Brumbies travelled to Alicedale and entered the “House of Pain” as overwhelming favourites to win this encounter after dominating the two previous encounters against St Marks recently.
Saturday was a different ball game as St Marks played in front of their home support, who rallied behind them to cheer them on against the Stallions of Makhanda. St Marks is a very difficult team to beat at home at the “House of Pain”, and top rugby Club Brumbies fell victim to a complete team performance by the Bulls, who dominated them throughout the game.
The game was played in a very good spirit as both teams entertained the large crowd with some salubrious running rugby accompanied by aggression and immense physicality. The home side started the game like a house on fire with a point to prove in order to seek sweet revenge. Brumbies felt the pressure in the first half with Man of the Match Cole Kirkwood scoring the first of his hat trick of tries.
The former Brumbies and EP Schools and EP U/19 player posed a real threat to the visitor’s defence with his blistering attacking profess with the ball in hand. Brumbies defense let them down at times and resulted in Winston Fredericks scoring his team’s second try to take up a healty 10-0 lead. It was no surprise that Brumbies came back strongly and showed their class and Grand Challenge experience, putting the home side under pressure on attack that led to a penalty try. Minutes later, young Razeen Saturday slotted a late first-half penalty to hand the Bulls a 13-7 lead at the break.
Second half
The second half was even more competitive and brutal, with both sides eager to put points on the board. Brumbies should kick themselves for making schoolboy errors whilst scoring opportunities went begging. Too many mistakes from the Makhanda side which is uncharacteristic from their side.
On the other hand, the powerful St Marks’ forwards marched on where they left off in the first half, controlling the game with their effective, powerful scrumming and standoffs. Their hardworking forwards ensure quality ball for their young, speedy backs to launch attacks out wide, testing the experienced backline of Brumbies.
Brumbies eventually find their feet and give the ball some air I saw their speedy and skilful backs get into the act and gain much-needed territory on the attack. Cole Kirkwood completed his hat trick of tries in the second half as he won the battle in the backline and put in a monstrous performance against a quality lineup. The home side were in front all the time as they closed in on a major upset before Brumbies hit back with two tries by Pondy Basson and Nicklon Williams towards the end of the match.
The game went to the wire as both teams put in some monster hits on each other and launched wave after wave of attacks in search of the winner. St. Marks’s defences stood firm as they hung on to their lead and prevented Brumbies from scoring the winning try in the end. The final whistle went off two minutes inside injury time as St Marks clinched a clinical yet hard-fought 23-19 win over Brumbies.
The president speaks
President of St Marks Shawn Bruintjies was indeed a very happy man after his side’s surprise upset win. “It was a very good game today as our forwards controlled the game nicely while our young backline played very good against a top side. We played some structured rugby but made mistakes here and there, and our discipline let us down in the second half.”
“We have to practice more, especially as a team, then we will play better rugby. It is very difficult for us to play structured rugby and to play as a team because some of our players are residing outside Alicedale and some are working. But we will play better with time, and the win today means a lot to us to build our confidence for the season ahead.”
“Thank you to Brumbies who pushed us in order to get the best out of us. They are a top quality side, and we always knew it wouldn’t be easy to win in the end. All the best and good luck to them for the 2024 season,” he said.
Man of the match
The star player of St Marks was undoubtedly the Grocott’s Mail/Daniels MEDIA Man of the Match. The powerful build player was in sublime form both on attack and defence and scoring a hat trick of tries in the process. He was the master brain at the back alongside his young, talented and skilful backline, who was full of running from the outset. Kirkwood was dangerous with the ball in hand on attack and ran with enormous purpose and pace, breaking the defensive lines and gaining meters every time he touched the ball.
