Benoni beat Meyerton in President’s Cup

Benoni Northerns Rugby Club edged into the next round of the Valke President’s Cup after coming from behind to beat Meyerton Knights 21-10 at the Northerns rugby fields on April 6.

The visitors led 10-7 at the break before an impressive comeback from the hosts, who held an 11-point advantage before the game was called off deep in the second half due to bad weather.

Meyerton drew first blood following a sustained period of pressure in the Benoni half through Ruco du Preez. The fullback received the ball from the centre, ran to the left, evaded his marker and darted in the first try of the game to put his team in the lead.

The hosts’ struggles against the powerful Meyerton pack were evident in the early proceedings but there were signs that if they stuck to the game plan and cut out the mistakes, they could overpower the visitors.

It proved so when Wihann Ehlers levelled the scores after powering through from a driving maul.

Ronaldo du Plessis scored the conversion to nudge the hosts into the lead but Meyerton increased the tally after Renier Boshoff crossed the whitewash as they went into the break leading 10-7.

However, Benoni managed to get a grip on proceedings and consistently made it over the gain line but was often sent in reverse by the powerful Meyerton front three, especially in the set-piece.

They refused to be beaten and mounted a comeback thanks to second-half tries from Bongile Matiwane and Rohanne Botha.

They got it right up front, sensed the opportunity, lifted the intensity and ended up on the right side of the scoreline as the forwards made key interventions and dominated the breakdowns.

They slowly worked their way into the Meyerton 22 and Matiwane touched down after some brilliant play down the right flank and Du Plessis stepped up to add the extra two points as the home side took the lead for the second time in the match.

Benoni continued to apply pressure deep in the Meyerton half and was duly rewarded when Botha powered through from close range to score his team’s third try.

The match was stopped deep in the second stanza due to lightning. It was eventually called off after persistent rain.

Benoni were declared the winners because they were ahead by a bigger margin and enough time had been played in the match. They will host NWU at home on April 13.

Scorers:

Benoni

Tries: Wihan Ehlers, Bongile Matiwane and Rohan Botha
Conversions: Ronaldo du Plessis (2), Johan du Preez

Meyerton

Tries: Ruco du Plessis and Renier Boshoff

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