East Rand United hung on to win by a thread when they defeated Northam Rhinos 31-30 in a Volcano Super Cup match at the Graveyard in Reiger Park on July 20.
It was an all too familiar pattern of play by the home side, who opened a big enough gap on the scoreboard midway through the second stanza thanks to an intercept try by Cameron Rooi to win comfortably, but a mixture of a late rally by the visitors and complacency by United meant United’s win was a rather uncomfortable one.
With the score reading 31-25 in United’s favour during the dying minutes of the encounter, the Rhinos used their best weapon on the day, the rolling maul, marshalled by their heavy pack, to squeeze in a try in what was the game’s last play in the corner.
A conversion would’ve reminded United of the countless encounters they’ve lost at the death of matches, in most cases from their own doing, but the rugby gods smiled down on them on what was a rather chilly day in Gauteng.
The Rhinos kicker dragged his effort to the left of the posts, much to the relief of the home side and its die-hard followers.
Quizzed on his thoughts on the match, United captain Jonathan Botha said: “I think in the first half we managed to dominate the collisions and managed to get over the advantage line, and enjoyed front-foot ball, the East Rand United way.
“I think we are very inconsistent when it comes to scrum time and as soon as you start losing that battle, it becomes a mental battle, and that’s where the game changed for me in the second half.
“They kept to their guns and mauled almost every line-out in the second-half and that took a toll on the players, having to defend that heavy pack of theirs. They managed to score a very impressive try from a maul in the last movement of the game.
“Playing against the wind was also not easy, but credit to my boys, they really came out to play, take nothing away from the team. We showed some character, some big hits and we enjoyed running with the ball. We are combining well as a team and with the return of some injured players, we will be back to full strength and do what we do best, jigga the ball.”
Injury casualties for United included star centre and wing Waylon Thompson and Leon Potgieter.
Ruan Venter and hat-trick hero Jacky Jonkers joined Rooi in the try-scoring stat. Rooi added the extras from three conversions.
