PHOTOS: Poorte’s 1st XV salvages sense of pride against Pukke
Roodepoort Rugby Club (Poorte) was handed four defeats at the hands of North West University (Pukke) last weekend before the first team managed to pull back one victory for the home side.
Following a promising round of games against Randfontein Rugby Club on 7 April, the sides were handed a breather when matches scheduled for the weekend of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s funeral were postponed in honour of the late struggle stalwart.
After enjoying a weekend off, Poorte played host to Pukke at both Ruimsig Stadium and Allen Glen High School (AGHS) with five matches played on the day.
It was the first time the sides locked horns at these locations, with Pukke dominating the day.
A few games of touch rugby followed by some school rugby acted as precursors to the day’s main attractions. Then the club games kicked off, at 1pm, with the U/21 sides facing each other at AGHS while the third teams played each other at Ruimsig Stadium.
Poorte’s U/21 side suffered its second consecutive loss, narrowly going down by 20–26, despite only having 13 men finish the game.
The third team was not so lucky however, as it lost out 7–42 to a strong Pukke team.
The next two games would be ones to forget for Poorte as the U/19 and second teams both lost their games by considerable margins.
The U/19 side fared slightly better than the seconds, going down 17–41 to Pukke. The second team suffered a 17–62 drubbing.
When the first teams ran out in the final match of the day, the men from Poorte were hoping to salvage some sense of pride for the home fans.
Pukke opted not to field any of the players that played in the 7–40 defeat to Stellenbosch University in the Varsity Cup Final on Monday, 16 April, and Poorte was forced to play without captain Gerhard Scholtz, who was still recovering from a slight concussion. This saw vice-captain Byron Godfrey step up and take charge for the home side.
The young side from Pukke seemed to struggle against a mentally strong Poorte side, whose mind games played a large role in deciding the match.
The experienced Poorte side was able to read a number of the plays that Pukke attempted to carry out from set-pieces.
A dominant display from Poorte saw the home side run out 34–19 victors over the Varsity Cup runners-up.
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