CCC Brakpan Rugby Club kicked off their campaign in the Valke Peregrine League in great style as they put East Rand United (ERU) to the sword at Bosman Stadium on Saturday.
The first team won their match 43-9 as they ran in seven tries to dispose of their opponents.
Tries by Ruan Botha, George Gissing (twice), Siba Ncube (twice), Frans Williams and Jason Booysens had them destroying their opponents.
Stephan van Zyl kicked over four conversions. Scrumhalf Gissing was the man of the match.
“It’s a great turnaround for us,” said club chairperson Harry Nieuwenhuis.
Brakpan’s second side thrashed ERU 68-7 while the U21 team were imperious in their 81-0 victory.
“It was a very good day,” said Nieuwenhuis.
The chairperson, however, is not too happy that the club will not be playing until they travel to face Springs on May 6.
“It’s disappointing that now we have another two weeks off. The league is insisting that we keep having time off,” he said.
“It’s not a good thing for the sport at all.”
Brakpan will now have an extra week to prepare for what should be their toughest opponents in the league.
“We’ll use the time to prepare for the old foe in Springs,” said Niewenhuis.
Playing a match, however, would be the best preparation.
“It’s difficult for players. Then there’s also load-shedding at the stadium which makes it difficult to train. It’s not good for any player.
“They might even think that they would rather spend time at home with their families or put in extra time at work,” said Nieuwenhuis.
The chairperson does insist that the club intends to stay positive.
“We are hanging in there. The club is on a positive right now,” he said.
He commends the players for maintaining a positive attitude.
“The U21s just go with the flow. With the seniors, we saw fewer guys training on Tuesday. So you can see.
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“It’s not negative but the guys can see they are not playing so they are not as committed as they should be,” he said.
The problem with less action on weekends is that the club needs to generate an income to keep running.
“It’s a problem but we handle it on the management side. The players don’t need to worry about it. It’s boardroom stuff,” he said.
They face Springs next and then Vereeniging. Both matches will be important as they could be an indicator of where Brakpan stands this season.
