‘Manne, dis hoe Vryheid speel!’
"The guys are really confident now after seeing that all the fitness we have done every week has paid off," said head coach, Rich Verster.
VRYHEID Rugby Club hosted the visiting Sentraal team for an epic clash on the rugby field on Saturday afternoon.
The second team kicked off the first game of the afternoon, going head to head with Sentraal’s seconds in a challenging match, where Sentraal’s immense size met Vryheid’s unyielding spirit. Despite being faced with Sentraal’s colossal pack of forwards, Vryheid’s seconds never lost their spark and good spirit from the host team led them to an astounding victory over the visitors. The final score was 19 – 7 to Vryheid. Man of the Match for the forwards was Mali Bhukosini and Matthew Stride for the backline.
“Well done, guys,” said proud coach, Edwill Meiring. “See you at practice.”
A wintery chill in the air set the scene for the second clash of the day as Vryheid’s finest met with Sentraal’s top jocks in a battle of epic proportions. Four minutes into the match, scoring sensation, Francois Scheepers placed the ball between the posts in a penalty kick that put Vryheid on the board.
Sentraal responded with a try at ten minutes and a conversion, which put them in the lead, but not for long. At sixteen minutes, Carl Holzhauzen invaded the tryline, putting Vryheid ahead once more and Francois Scheepers drove it home with another successful kick at the posts. Three minutes later, Juan Swanepoel scored another try for the hosts, also converted by Scheepers.
Half an hour into the game, Sentraal managed to score another try, followed by a conversion and another try at 42 minutes, but not even foul play and chicanery could break Vryheid’s resolve and the mighty men in maroon came back in full force with Chris Van Rooyen, Sticks Mbatha, Francois Scheepers and Carl Holzhauzen each storming the tryline, and Scheepers converting three of the four tries.
At 76 minutes, Sticks Mbatha once more crossed the tryline, followed by another five points scored by Francois Lindeque in the closing stages of the game. Francois Scheepers placed the final nail in the coffin of the visiting team, converting the last try of the match.
At the final whistle, the score stood at Vryheid 55 – 19 Sentraal. Chris Van Rooyen was once again named Man of the Match for the backline and Francois Scheepers for the forwards.
“The guys are really confident now after seeing that all the fitness we have done every week has paid off,” said head coach, Rich Verster.
