Poorte qualify for Community Cup quarterfinals

The Roodepoort Rugby Club first team booked their place among the eight best teams competing for the Cell C Community Cup following a hard-fought 37-31 victory over Eagle Towing Rovers.

It was by no means easy. Being their second game away from home and against opposition unfamiliar to them, Poorte had just enough in the tank to hold on and bag the vital four points.

The first half was nothing too fancy, with Poorte leading by just three points at the break with the score at 6-3. In the second half, however the match really became interesting. Again Poorte won the half by just three points and a scoreline of 31-28.

It was also a half that saw seven tries in total – four scored by Rovers and three by Roodepoort with the number of penalties proving to be the difference. Rovers gave away 21 penalties to Roodepoort’s seven and surprisingly no yellow cards were dished out.

For one of the Poorte coaches, Jorge Carvalho the big talking point was the number of penalties.

“The penalties were a clear factor. There were way too many infringements in the game. Although we had the opportunity to score three points I feel a yellow card should’ve been given at some stage.

“We had lots of possession in the first half, made a few good line breaks and again the set pieces were outstanding, but we just couldn’t finish off. We had many opportunities to take the game out of their hands, but we never showed patience and did silly things.

“The second half was a nightmare. We made it really difficult for ourselves by allowing them to play their game. They scored four tries in the process. One has to give them credit for using their opportunities. These tries were scored as they caught us unaware in defence from quick taps and broken play.

“I also felt that mentally the travelling was a bit tough on the guys. It is no excuse and make no mistake, Rovers is a good team.”

Poorte also played without three of their regular players, being flyhalf Hennie Oosthuizen, lock Ronnie Goodman and prop Mauritz van Rooyen. This gave exciting fullback Chanley Williams the opportunity to shine in the position and he did so with flying colours, having scored 19 points with his boot. Besides his elusive play on attack he is also a useful kicker. Gareth Hemmingway joined Nicky Cronjé as lock combination. The former retired prop, Johan Prins then made up the front row with Thys de Villiers and Jaco Vermeulen in the absence of Mauritz.

Man of the match went to André Spyker Esterhuizen who also slotted a drop goal.

Poorte now has a tough task this weekend when they welcome former champions College Rovers at home on Saturday 29 March.

Point scorers against Rovers:

• Tries: Jesse Geyer (1), Juan Shaw (2)

• Conversions: Chanley Williams (2)

• Penalties: Chanley Williams (5)

• Drop kick: André Esterhuizen (1)