Highlanders again dominate Middelburg on the rugby field
Leading from the front, Henk Booysen (4) gets credit for the way he captained the team.
The Newcastle Boschpick Highlanders pulled off an extraordinary away-game victory this past weekend when they dominated Middelburg for a second year in a row.
Highlanders led 13-8 at the break and ran out 27-21 winners.
Coach, Andrè ‘Swanie’ Swanepoel, said the Highlanders battled to find their rhythm under the poor floodlights while Middelburg put up a very good defence, which disrupted the Highlanders even further.
However, the Highlanders kept their cool, scoring a runaway try on the 40-minute mark that put them 13-8 ahead.
Gumede (9) pulled off a ‘man of the match’ performance, scoring two tries for the Highlanders, while Nkosi (10) scored the third try.
“We set goals before this league started, which were to win at least two away games and all our home games to secure our spot in the semifinals. So far, ee have ticked off two of those boxes,” stated Swanepoel.
Later in the game, the Highlanders once again got the upper hand in the scrums with a clean lineout ball.
Kwanda (3), Daniel (2), and Buffalo (1) stood their man in the scrum after a few scrum penalties against them, and later they turned the tables, getting a few penalties for their team.
Daniel’s lineout throws were superb, with Giraffe Sithole (8) and Max Mkhize (5) winning good, clean balls for the Highlanders.
The backline battled to get going and to finish and missed at least four try-scoring opportunities.
Minnie (13) had a bit of an off day with the boot, missing four kickable penalties, but fortunately, it didn’t come back to haunt the team.
With only a minute left on the clock and leading 27-14, the Highlanders kicked for touch in a bid to score the bonus point, but after a few phases, the ball was knocked down by Middelburg, which should have resulted in a penalty to the Highlanders, but the ref allowed
Middelburg to run in a 90-minute try.
Mkhize (5), who has never played as a lock, had to stand in and was the forward of the day.
Leading from the front, Henk Booysen (4) gets credit for the way he captained the team. DJ (7) was ‘eye-catching’ while Gumede (9) was the best player of the day.
Dube (21) also helped pick up the pace after taking over from Gumede.
Points scored during the match:
- Gumede (9) scored two tries.
- Nkosi (10) scored one try.
- Siwele (13) kicked two penalties and three conversions.
Highlander’s second team lost 3-60.
“We have to urgently look at the second team going forward as we cannot play like this. They need to become stronger.”
The Highlanders third team won 43-7 against the Flying Eagles in the NKZN League.
Highlanders first and second teams will travel to Bethal this weekend.
The third team will face off against Ladysmith Rugby Club (an away game), while the fourth team will face Utrecht at the Arbor Park Sports Grounds.
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