Poorte falls five short of a century in PGC opener against Randfontein
Poorte scored 244 points on the day, conceding only 74 across the five games played.
In the Pirates Grand Challenge season opener, Roodepoort Rugby Club scored a total of 244 points from five games, winning four of their five matches against Randfontein Rugby Club on Saturday, 6 April.
Poorte went into the fixture off the back of a disappointing early exit from the SSG Gold Cup, leaving the country’s top club competition in the group stages. They travelled to Randfontein to take on the next-biggest club on the West Rand, with the home side hoping to reverse their fortunes from last season, when Poorte won nine of the 10 games played between the two clubs in last year’s PGC.
The day got under way with the U/21 and third teams kicking off at 1.15pm, with the latter team achieving Teine’s only victory of the day. Roodepoort’s U/21 were on fire in their first fixture of the season, as they emerged 43–7 victors, which was a terrible start to the day for Teine. Randfontein was able to reverse its fortunes in the third team fixture however, as they managed to sweep Poorte’s thirds aside with a score of 29–7, to give the home fans something to cheer about on the day.
The fans’ cheers didn’t last long however, as the next round of fixtures brought about more devastation for Teine. Roodepoort’s U/19 team were on a mission as they managed to roll Teine over by 57–7, while the second team won their game by 32 points, with the score finishing on 42–10 to Roodepoort.
The first team, which was looking to make a resurgence after a disappointing Gold Cup campaign, got their 2019 PGC season off to a great start with a lovely game of ‘park cricket’ on the rugby field against Randfontein. Poorte managed to run in seven tries in the first half alone, with another seven coming in the second half, to bring their try total to 14 for the game.
Fly-half and Poorte veteran André Esterhuizen managed to convert 11 of the tries while also scoring one penalty to bring his points tally for the game to 25, level with flank Ashley van Wyk’s total, who managed to score five tries on his own. The match finished 95–21 in Poorte’s favour, strengthening their grip on the Castle Bowl for another game.
