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Charlie Hofmeyr snatches victory from the jaws of defeat against Brakkies

By Willem Louw , in Rugby | Featured Rugby | News , at 2024-03-26 Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Photo: Lunchbox Photography

Charlie Hofmeyr closed out the Oakdale Klein Karoo Saadproduksie Rugby Week with a dramatic win in the main event against Hoërskool Brackenfell on Monday.

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With both teams navigating through the rest of the competition without tasting defeat, the match was set up to be a thriller from the start.

On Sunday, Charlie Hofmeyr had been awarded a prize for playing the most exciting brand of rugby at this year’s event, with their star flyhalf, Luan Giliomee, being singled out as the best backline player.

Their opponents from Brackenfell were one of only four schools to have two players in the Team of the Tournament, with their big prop Gregan Matroos and winger Cwenga Ntsapho cracking the nod for the select group.

In the showdown, Brackenfell hit the ground running, energised by a few early mistakes by the team from Ceres. Flanker Dawson Lombard opened their account after only four minutes of play, powering through the Charlies’ defence to score the game’s first try.

The Brakkies’ number 10, Junior Louw, who has been excellent for his side since the beginning of the season, maintained his spectacular record off the tee, confidently adding the extras.

After missing an earlier shot at goal, Giliomee got his team on the board with a well-struck penalty goal in the 20th minute.

The decision to take the points on offer would decide the game in the end, but when Matroos ran over three scrambling defenders from Charlie Hofmeyr to score Brackenfell’s second try and Louw added the extras with ease, the half-time score of 14-3 made for some distressing reading for the Ceres outfit.

The second half was a stop/start affair, with both teams making errors that disrupted the flow of the game.

Brackenfell did well to contain the Charlie Hofmeyr dangermen for a large part of the contest, but being able to adapt to what’s in front of you is a sign of a good player, and the Ceres attack adapted.

Two quickfire tries by centre Philip Du Plessis in the last five minutes of the match, with both coming after intelligent kicks from Giliomee, snatched a stunning victory for Charlie Hofmeyr and brought a fitting end to an action-packed event on the farm in Riversdal.

Photo: Lunchbox Photography

In the penultimate game, Swartland started slowly against Potchefstroom Gimnasium, but some strong words at halftime seemed to do the trick, and Swartland scored 18 points without reply in the second half.

Giano da Kosta‘s penalty for Hermanus was the only score in a gruelling first half against the Augsburg farmers, but Reon Goosen‘s try after the break, and another penalty from Kosta, gave their team an 11-point buffer, which they kept, to claim the win.

In their final runout, Langenhoven Gimnasium stormed to an early 20-7 lead against Hoërskool Vryburg.

Their lively scrumhalf, Jayden Arends, who impressed throughout the weekend, which earned him a spot in the Team of the Tournament, scored half of his team’s points off the kicking tee.

Vryburg, down but not out, came back with a vengeance, scoring 21 unanswered points to end their campaign on a high.

Parel Vallei also bounced back from a loss on Saturday to defeat Zwartkop 14-6.  The boys from Somerset West crossed the try line twice through Diaan du Toit and Christiaan Louw but were solid in defence and restricted the Zwarries to scoring two penalties off the boot of Kyle Koopman.

Ronaldo Koker‘s try made the difference in a thriller between Hoërskool Montagu and Westering. By halftime, neither side had made any inroads onto the scoreboard, but Linden da Silva and Koker found a way through Westering’s defence in the second half, while the boys from Gqeberha crossed the whitewash only once, through Mihle Mpongoshe.

Results and scorers

Charlie Hofmeyr 15 (3) – Tries: Philip du Toit (2). Conversion: Luan Giliomee. Penalty: Giliomee. Hoërskool Brackenfell 14 (14) – Tries: Dawson Lombard, Graigan Matroos. Conversions: Junior Louw (2).

Swartland 23 (5) – Tries: Alexander Wucherofenning, Deven Bocks, Nicholai Miggel. Conversion: Carlo van der Merwe. Penalties: Van der Merwe (2). Potchefstroom Gimnasium 7 (7) – Try: Wian Botha. Conversion: David Ndala.

Hermanus 11 (3) – Try: Reon Goosen. Penalties: Giano da Kosta (2). Augsburg 0.

Hoërskool Overberg 33 (17) – Tries: Pieter du Toit (2), Lorenzo Kroutz, Rinus Beukes, Kiyan Burger. Conversions: Burger (4). Sentraal 17 (10) – Tries: AJ le Roux, Marnus Earle, Jayden Betty. Conversion: Aiden Gotsch.

Hoërskool Vryburg 28 (7) – Tries: Penalty Try, Janco Venter, Jordan Rathebe, Katleho Sameilo. Conversions: Jayden Starke (3). Langenhoven Gimnasium 20 (20) – Tries: Cade Ayford, Ethan Schoeman. Conversions: Jayden Arends (2). Penalties: Arends (2).

Wagpos 27 (7) – Tries: Adriaan Olivier, Arrie Joubert, Dean Boshoff. Conversions: JG Ockers (3). Penalties: Olckers (2). Labori 16 (13) – Try: Miguel Britz. Conversion: Christiaan Beukes. Penalties: Beukes (3).

Parel Vallei 14 (7) – Tries: Diaan du Toit, Christiaan Louw. Conversions: Shudley Rhoda, Luchen Meyer. Zwartkop 6 (3) – Penalties: Kyle Koopman (2).

Montagu 12 (0) – Tries: Linden de Silva, Ronaldo Koker. Conversions: Koker. Westering 7 (0) – Try: Mihle Mpongoshe. Conversion: Avumile Katu.

Willem Louw
error: Sorry ol' chap, those shenanigans are not permissible.