Rhinos need to catch a wake-up

RHINOS’ lack of finishing off and selecting a backline out of position proved vital and costly on Saturday afternoon at Mick Kelly Park, when the side went down 20-17 to Newcastle Highlanders in a semi-final knockout Junior Castle Murray Cup clash.

Getting good, clean ball from the forwards was not the issue.

The problem was getting the ball on the back foot and being isolated as a result of poor passing off the deck, which gave Newcastle the edge needed to stop the Rhinos’ attack.

The visitors opened up the scoring from a scrum penalty which was easily converted.

As play continued, the Rhinos pack dominated the scrums and loose phases, turning over Newcastle’s ball.

As a result, Thulani Mdluli dotted down under the sticks in the 20th minute, with Corné Els converting to hand the home side a narrow 7-3 lead.

Rhinos continued to dominate but failed to finish, with four easy tries going a-begging.

The visitors took advantage of the poor handling errors and scored to take the score to 8-7.

Just before the half was up, Warren Graff crossed the whitewash, with Els converting to take the score to 14-8.

That is where it ended and both teams went into the shed at the break.

Newcastle forwards were superb in the line-outs, disrupting the Rhinos’ ball and winning all their own ball.

The second half continued as the first, with a tightly contested battle between the forwards and backs.

Els slotted a penalty to increase the lead to 17-8, to the home crowd’s delight.

But a controversial try under the poles from a forward pass, let the visitors back into the game at 17-15.

With Newcastle’s tails up, the Rhinos had their hands full.

But a try in the corner in the 78th minute, took the game to 20-17, and that is where it ended.

The two teams will meet again on Friday 12 September in the promotion/relegation game at Mick Kelly Park at 8pm.

Both sides will take notes of each other’s game plan and performance, and utilise it to take the win come Friday.

Martin Stander (forwards) and Rambo Mbuyazi (backs) were awarded the men of the matches honours.

Second team

A weakened Rhinos 2 outfit took to the park for a Keith Parkinson semi-final clash, which saw Empangeni 1 and 2 players in action.

Despite not practicing as a team during the week and slapping a side together at the last minute, the local boys put their hands up and showed their commitment for the club and the game, never giving up or backing down.

Rhinos 2 went down 33-22 in an entertaining game of running rugby.

The visitors took a 22-12 lead going into the half time break, but the Rhinos’ fitness kicked in the second half, with the home side scoring 10 points.

Rudolph du Plessis (2), Sizwe Ntuli and Bongs Masinga all crossed the chalk for the Rhinos, with Jimmy de Wet converting one try.

Rhinos 2 season has officially come to an end, and the boys will definitely back the first team in three weeks time, where the clubs history hangs on the shoulders of 15 men.

Men of the match were Sizwe Sibiya (backs) and Ayanda Msweli (forwards).