Forwards shine in first match of the season
The team received their new jerseys after last Thursday night's rain-soaked practice at Hoërskool Pionier, where the school's first team rugby players were joined by Vryheid Rugby Club for a challenging practice session on the school's rugby field.
WITH a brand new kit for the season ahead, Vryheid Rugby Club’s first team is ready to tackle anything that comes their way.
The team received their new jerseys after last Thursday night’s rain-soaked practice at Hoërskool Pionier, where the school’s first team rugby players were joined by Vryheid Rugby Club for a challenging practice session on the school’s rugby field.
During the handover of the new kit, Tinus Scheepers was announced as the new first team captain and Juan Booyens as the vice-captain.
The following evening, 25 players traveled to Empangeni for an action-packed, water-logged encounter with the home side in the first official game of the season. Three minutes in, Vryheid lit up the scoreboard with a try by newcomer to the side, first team flank, Lungisa Mlaba. Empangeni, however, came back with two unconverted tries, back to back at 21 and 23 minutes.
Sticks Mbatha responded with a try at 31 minutes, converted by Francois Scheepers, to put the men in maroon briefly in the lead, but Empangeni reciprocated with a try and conversion five minutes later, ending the first half five points ahead of Vryheid, 17 – 12 in favour of the hosts.
Empangeni wasted no time in extending their lead with an unconverted try five minutes into the second half. Vryheid’s Francois Lindeque claimed the final try of the match at 54 minutes, converted by Francois Scheepers, but it was not enough for victory and Empangeni snatched a 22 – 19 win over the visitors.
Head Coach, Rich Verster, described the match as having a lot of scrums. “Last year we struggled in the scrums,” he stated. “but on Friday night, the forwards were amazing. The backline didn’t get a lot of ball in this match,” he added.
Vryheid Rugby Club’s second and first teams will be playing Bethlehem Scholars this Saturday on home soil at Cecil Emmett at 2pm and 4pm respectively.
