Day to remember for ‘Panne’

This was when Brakpan Rugby Club’s first XV clashed with North West University (NWU) Vaal.

The ”Panne” team were fresh off a mammoth 130-5 victory over Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), on Saturday, March 7, where their forwards, in particular, were devastatingly powerful.

Two weeks prior to that thumping, skipper Francois “Bones” Robbertse’s men ran in eight tries to defeat their eventual final opponents, NWU Vaal, 52-13.

Those big wins meant that Brakpan were outright favourites to win the Group Three Assupol Super Series Cup against the students.

And, that is precisely what they did at the home of the Blue Bulls.

The Panne again proved way too strong for NWU Vaal in the final and romped to a 48-6 victory in a 70-minute game, that was shortened due to a severe injury to a NWU player.

Theo Mynhardt was impressive, with two tries, and claimed the Man of the Match plaudits, but fly half Gido Horn offered good competition for the award after scoring two tries and slotting four conversions.

Lock forward Dean van der Merwe scored a long-distance try, while flanker Wikus van der Berg also dotted down twice.

Tobie Strydom and Shaun Botes completed the try-scoring spree for Brakpan, in Pretoria.

The club’s second team “The Lilywhites” completed a memorable day for the Bosman Stadium-based club with an excellent 27-13 win, over a strong Pretoria Bobbies side.

Harry Nieuwenhuis, chairman of the club, expressed his delight with the Assupol victories.

“Both these wins mean a lot to us, because they confirm the club’s intention to have a strong season and to set a marker for the other Valke clubs, showing that we want to be back in the Community Cup in 2016 and that we are going all out with all our teams to make sure that we, as a club, win all the available Valke trophies,” he said.

“That’s the goal and this is an extremely good start to achieving that.”