Nelspruit Rugby Club soars into provincial premier league finals
For the first time in nearly a decade, Nelspruit Rugby Club will play in the Mpumalanga Premier League finals with the first and second teams securing their spots courtesy of wins against Sasol Secunda Rugby Club.
Nelspruit Rugby Club’s first and second teams have secured spots in the Mpumalanga Premier League finals after tough wins over Sasol Secunda Rugby Club on July 20.
Having finished top of the MRU Ehlanzeni Premier League standings in the round-robin stage, Nelspruit hosted Secunda, who were second in the Highveld’s premier league, for the provincial semi-finals on Saturday July 20. The purpose of the provincial play-offs is to determine the overall Mpumalanga winners between the Lowveld and Highveld’s top teams.
This, of course, isn’t limited to only the first teams, though, as there are second and third team divisions too. Nelspruit failed to qualify for the provincial third team division semis, but did make the cut for the first and second team divisions.
The matchday kicked off on Saturday with the second team encounter, which delivered some fantastic rugby. Secunda led the match right throughout, holding a 12-3 lead at half-time. Two second-half penalties and a try for Nelspruit put the score at 18-10 to Secunda going into the final stages of the game.
Nelspruit won a penalty right in front of the uprights with less than one minute left on the clock. They slotted the kick, with the hooter sounding seconds after the ball flew through the posts.
The score was 18-13 when Secunda restarted the game. Nelspruit gathered the ball from the kick-off and immediately went on the hunt for the match-winning try.
They found it after a brilliant line break by fly half Joshua Maas, who, in turn, swung the ball wide to his right wing Ryno le Grange, who dotted the ball down right under the uprights for Nelspruit. Maas slotted the conversion and Nelspruit secured an incredible 20-18 win, having never led the match at any point in regular time.
The first team match had a lot to live up to after the thrilling second team encounter, but it immediately delivered for the home side. An intercept try followed by a breakaway try handed the hosts an early 12-0 lead. Secunda wasn’t going to let them run away with it, though, responding with a penalty.
Nelspruit countered with a penalty of their own before Secunda had the final say of the first half with a try. This left things rather evenly poised as Nelspruit led 15-8 at the break. Secunda were the first to strike in the second period through an unconverted try before they took the lead through a penalty, with the score now 16-15 to the visitors.
They would, however, fail to score any more points in the game. Nelspruit kicked over a penalty to restore their lead before extending it with a converted try to lead 25-16. A yellow card with nine minutes remaining threatened to unravel Nelspruit’s game, but they held firm and kept Secunda at bay with a man down. Nelspruit ultimately won 28-16 thanks to a last-minute penalty, which was the final nail in Secunda’s coffin.
This means that Nelspruit’s first and second teams will travel to eMalahleni to face Highveld winners Witbank in the provincial final on Saturday August 3. Witbank thumped White River in their semi-finals last Saturday to secure their spots in the finals.
