Benoni hold their own against Boksburg
Preparation for the new season continued for Benoni Rugby Club’s three teams, on the evening of Friday, March 20.
The club hosted a tough opponent in neighbouring Boksburg Rugby Club, in strength versus strength matches on the grounds of Hoërskool Hans Moore.
Benoni’s u-21 team got proceedings underway by winning an intense, close game against Boksburg’s u-21 team.
The boys from Benoni emerged victorious, with a 21-19 win.
Hooker Wessel Duvenage enjoyed an outstanding game, scoring twice for his team, while Dawie Pieterse also crossed the Boksburg try-line.
Fly-half Eugene Horn slotted three conversions to steer the team to the narrow victory.
“Jacques Carelse also played well, but in the end everyone chipped in for this well-deserved win,” said Benoni Rugby Club public relations officer Steve Myburgh.
“This was an extremely positive result for the team and they will start the league with their heads up.”
Boksburg’s second XV proved too strong for their Benoni counterparts and convincingly defeated the home side 35-0.
In the main clash of the evening, Benoni’s first XV squared up against the first team from Boksburg.
Boksburg, a team who played Community Cup rugby last year and in the league above Benoni, did not have it easy in Benoni, as the senior players came out fighting and pressurised their opponents from the start.
Marius Bezuidenhout put Benoni in the lead 20 minutes in, and five minutes later eighth man Jacques Dorfling dotted down after FL van Greunen broke away down the touchline and gave the final pass to Dorfling.
As has been a regular occurrence in the past for Benoni, they allowed the opposition to come back straight away as they went over the home team’s try-line, minutes after Benoni scored.
The Benoni team would, however, go into the halftime break 13-7 up.
In the second stanza, Boksburg capitalised on mistakes made by the hosts and ran in three unanswered tries, two of which were against the run of play.
“This was also a positive game for us, seeing that we tested ourselves against a strong club like Boksburg,” said Myburgh.
“We are satisfied with where we are at this moment in time and, even with this loss, we will be ready for April 18, when we will travel to Vanderbijlpark to face the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) in our first league game.”
