Northerns digs deep to win Merlin League
The Storm scored three tries compared to Nigel's single touchdown to end the season undefeated.
The Benoni Northerns Storm second team’s match-winning try late in the second half showed how crucial coach Malcolm Taylor’s half-time talk was in carrying the team over the line in their 22-8 win over Nigel to clinch the Valke Merlin League on September 14.
Leading 17-8 at half-time, Taylor felt the Storm could have wreaked havoc in the first half after their dominance.
They made mistakes at crucial stages because they “were not playing the rugby they were supposed to play” and the coach knew he had to get them back into the slugfest.
Taylor rallied his troops to “bring the trophy back to Benoni”.
Rejuvenated and full of life, they did so with a clinical second-half performance to leave Barnard Stadium as champions after Lucian Bester’s try 10 minutes before time.
“I knew I had to be clinical and get my boys up. They were making crucial mistakes. They were not playing the rugby they were supposed to play. I knew I had to do it for the boys. I did my part and knew they could do theirs and finish it off and make us champions,” said Taylor.
After dominating for large periods camping inside the Nigel half, they finally turned that dominance into points when talismen Jesse Bekker and Threo Pieterse combined to feed Bester to seal the deal.
Bekker popped up and made use of some space created in the middle. After collecting, he was upended in the tackle, went to the ground, and swivelled over onto his feet to feed Pieterse before the centre off-loaded to Bester.
Facing two men, Bester held off one and powered through the other before running 30m down the right flank to help his club end the season undefeated from 14 games, having scored 624 points and conceding only 60.
Brilliant start
Nigel saw much of the ball in the early exchanges and almost grabbed the lead from a set-piece but the ambitious Handerik Deyzel’s kick from the halfway line sailed past the post.
The Storm got back into the contest and began their march into the opposition camp. They were rewarded early when loosehead Arny Engelbrecht bulldozed through the Nigel defence to dart in next to the posts in the fourth minute before Sheldon Botha converted, making it 7-0.
Despite their dominance, Benoni were flummoxed by Nigel in the 11th minute when they scored a try of their own through winger Henry van Biljoen.
After winning a line-out, the ball was spread to the other side for Van Biljoen to cross over. After that Benoni were penalised inside their 22 and Deyzel stepped over to score the penalty as Nigel took an 8-7 lead.
Resurgence
That committed the Storm to a chasing role. They came close a few times only to be undone by individual errors.
But after a sustained period of pressure, blindside flanker Brendan Kruger cleverly snuck in through several bodies in the 31st minute before going over for the Storm’s second try. Botha converted to make it 14-8.
Nigel were then penalised for an infringement inside their 22. Botha, later carried off with an ankle injury, added the three points as the game went into the break with the Storm 17-8 ahead.
That was when Taylor gave his players his frank assessment of their first half performance and from there, the Storm relentlessly surged forward and after battering Nigel, replacement wing Bester sealed it with a try.
“The senior boys stepped up. They’ve been with the club for years and wanted this cup even more than I did. They showed the young boys coming up the system what to do. They were clinical, disciplined and respectful to our opponents,” Taylor said.
Scores:
Benoni Northerns 22 – tries: Arny Engelbrecht, Brendan Kruger and Lucien Bester; conversions: Sheldon Botha (2); Penalty: Botha
Nigel 8 – Try: Henry van Biljoen; Conversion: Handerik Deyzel
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