Pirates Rugby Club celebrated a victory over arch rivals, Wanderers Rugby Club, on 29 August. The win saw Pirates, which is based in Greenside, take the historic Danferd Cup with a convincing score of 45–5. Coach Bradley Wilken said that the victories will not stop there.
“Pirates won’t enter into anything unless we’re going to win it,” said Wilken, “We’re competing with the best [this year] and we’ve got a great side. We have the semi-finals [of the Golden Lions Pirates Grand Challenge] coming up in two weeks then it’s [FNB] Pukke in the finals.”
The Danferd Cup has been awarded to either Pirates or Wanderers every year since the origin of both clubs 127 years ago.
Wilken credited the side’s victory to depth in the squad, which contained about 90 senior players, and the addition of assistant coach and former Lions scrumhalf, Michael Bondesio.
“We lost to Wanderers at the beginning of the year 18–17 but realised that if we bully them up front we’ll have the run of the game,” explained Wilken. “We managed to dominate the line-outs, scrums and the loose play.”
Once the finals of the Grand Challenge have concluded, Pirates will have the 2016 Cell C Community Cup to look forward to. Pirates won this nation-wide competition in 2000 and progressed to the quarter finals in 2009. With a strong side, Pirates will be looking for victory next year.
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