Rusties on top against Montana in epic battle in NWU Prestige Series
Hoërskool Rustenberg held on to a 24-20 win over Montana in an epic battle between the two sides on Thursday in Pretoria.
It was a closely fought match throughout, with Montana showing great improvement since last week’s loss against Die Anker in Brakpan.
Monties managed to keep the game close with tries by Liam de Villiers (winger), Divan Nel (fullback) and replacement, Reuben van Hammersveld and Rigard van Rensburg (flyhalf) who also added five with a penalty and a conversion.
The Rusties still looked as dangerous as last weekend though, and they were able to capitalize on loose play, scoring four tries courtesy of Johan Retief (hooker), Carlo van Wijk (prop), MC Smit (winger) and JG Steenberg (Nr. 8).
Ultimately, it was the two conversions, the first taken by the flyhalf Duquan (Awie) Alberts and the second by the winger Lorenzo Snyers, that separated these two teams on the day.
This result sees Rustenburg go two from two, which is exactly the kind of start they would have wanted, Montana, on the other hand, will still take motivation from their improvement and look forward to their next fixture against Hugenote in Springs.
Middelburg and Zwartkop played in an exciting matchup which saw Middelburg emerge victorious by 25-12.
Zwartkop played with immense character, keeping the game relatively tight up to the 58th minute, with Wihan van der Berg (centre) and Stiaan Bekker (winger) managing to score.
Even after Middies seemed to have pulled away, committed Zwartkop defenders were still chasing down breaks and putting in try-saving tackles, never losing hope.
Van der Berg and fullback, Kieraan Krotz, and scrumhalf, Waldo Smit, all had great games, and are ones to keep an eye on for the rest of the season.
It was Middelburg, however, controlling the game, with flanker, Ronin van Niekerk and no. 8, Tjaart Joubert, causing a lot of trouble for the visitors in the breakdown, and flyhalf, Divan van der Westhuizen, maintaining the pressure with his excellent touch finders, two penalties and two conversions.
They were able to take the lead through a try by centre, Luke Geldenhuys, in the first half, and build on it in the second, when hooker, Funani Chauke, finished off a well-rehearsed lineout move.
It was Joubert, the big nr.8 who scored the final try of the match, picking the ball up at the back of a scrum and breaking around it with nobody to stop him in sight.
Die Anker proved to be too powerful for Hugenote, managing to get six tries against the visitors without a response.
Benton Giessing, their playmaker flyhalf, has now scored four tries in two matches and seems to be playing at the top of his game this year.
Defending champs, Noordheuwel, were simply too strong for Oosterlig, beating the visitors by 55-10.
The Oosterlig boys were overrun in the first half but also showed character to get their scrumhalf, Jaco du Toit, over the line in the second.
Scorers:
Hoërskool Rustenburg 24 – Tries: Johan Retief, Carlo van Wijk, MC Smit, JG Steenberg. Conversions: Duquan Alberts, Lorenzo Snyers. Montana 20 – Tries: Liam de Villiers, Reuben van Hammersveld, Divan Nel. Conversion: Rigard van Rensburg. Penalty: Van Rensburg.
Hoërskool Middelburg 25 (13) – Tries: Fumani Chauke, Tjaart Joubert, Luke Geldenhuis. Conversions: Divan van der Westhuizen (2). Penalties: Van der Westhuizen (2). Zwartkop 12 (7) – Tries: Wihan van der Berg, Stiaan Bekker. Conversion: Crawford Joubert.
Die Anker 36 – Tries: Benton Giessing (2), Branden Crous, Divan du Plooy, Duhan du Plessis, Damien Muller. Conversions: Branden Crous (3). Hugenote 0.
Noordheuwel 55 – Tries: Janemo Luiters (3), Divan Cruywagen, Juan Fourie, Marshall de Vos, Jeandré de Villiers, Coun-Lee Koekman, Ludie Schutte. Conversions: JT Kapank (5). Oosterlig 10 – Try: Jaco du Toit. Conversion: Caiden Serfontein. Penalty: Serfontein.
