Brakpan Rugby Club’s first team ran riot against Vaal University of Technology (VUT) in the Presidents Cup at Bosman Stadium on Saturday.
Brakpan ran in 16 tries to thump the visitors 96-0 in a display of great attacking rugby. The locals were just too much for a team that plays in a second-tier league during the regular season.
Eighth man Brandon Smith scored four tries while Stephan de Klerk went over the try line twice. There were single tries for a number of the others in the demolition of VUT. The second team won 66-3.
VUT did not field an U21 side so Brakpan travelled to Vereeniging to win 29-20 against their hosts.
This sets up Brakpan for a semi-final match against North-West University (NWU), at Bosman Stadium, in what is likely to be a more strength versus strength match-up on Saturday.
“Looking at matches in recent years we have always had close matches against NWU,” said Brakpan’s vice-chairperson Sarel Korf.
Forwards’ coach Darlton Botha said that this will be the big test for his team.
“So far we have won the matches that we were supposed to win and NWU will be the first big challenge,” he said.
Botha believes that Brakpan will be ready.
“Preparations, our conditioning and the intensity in training have been good,” he told the Herald.
Botha said that the coaching staff will not be reading too much into the win over VUT as they and the players understand what awaits them on Saturday.
“As a coach who’s coming from the U21s, I have worked with a lot of players who are now at a senior level. I have coached with their coaches at the provincial level.
“So I know them personally. So it’s easier to get up for a game like this one. They were also one of the finalists last season in the Valke Peregrine League,” said Botha.
The coach is proud of his team for maintaining their discipline against VUT.
“We were 34-0 at halftime and what can happen in situations such as this is that discipline tends to slack. You could move away from your structure. I’m happy that didn’t happen. We stuck to our guns and that’s why the score snowballed in the second half,” he said.
“We are proud of not conceding a point. It sounds brutal but we take pride in that achievement. NWU will pose a different challenge. We know they are going to be a fit team as they are mostly students. So that changes your tactics a bit. They are going to be fast and slick.
“So we have to be good on defence, make good decisions and use the forwards to soften them up. The scrum will also be important,” said Botha.
“We have a very good backline and if we can dominate possession we can get on top of the game.”
