Crusaders win Durban North derby

THE Nashua Crusaders beat Varsity College RFC Tigers 32-12 in a tough Durban North derby in the Fidelity Moor Cup. The ‘Saders ran in five tries to the Tigers’ two, and were the more dominant team on the day. The home side had a blistering start to the game and opened the scoring in the first minute with explosive wing, Sipho Zaula, securing the first points of the game. The conversion was missed by Crusaders flyhalf, Gareth Pritchard.

Varsity College hit back with a try of their own (through Biselele Tshamala) midway through the first half to level up matters, but were again on the backfoot as star forward, Shandon Carter, put the Crusaders back into the lead.

With two minutes to go to halftime, Pritchard added three points to the home side’s tally through a penalty and added another conversion after Cohen Wortley crashed over for the Crusaders’ third try of the game. The first half ended 20-5.

While the first half was filled with a number of unforced errors from both sides, the second half was a much more fluid affair.
College was first on the scoreboard with a great team try down the right-hand side, which was easily converted.

This was followed by some impressive backline play from the Crusaders, with Brandon Bailing and Neil Maritz scoring two more tries to effectively kill off the game.

Crusaders coach, Ronnie Uys, said he was proud of his charges.

“We won and we secured the five points, which is important. I felt the boys played very well and, with ball in hand, our backline was particularly devastating. The forwards were awesome: they put in the hard yards which allowed us to attack on the front foot,” he said.