RICHARDS Bay 1 booked their spot in the Junior Castle Murray Cup finals by beating Vryheid (1) 40-31 in the semi-finals of the knock-out competition on Saturday at the Richards Bay Rugby Club.
The home team put on a memorable performance for their loyal supporters, which included a hat-trick of tries from outside centre Jimmy Enslin and a try from high school debutante Marius Robarts.
Richards Bay will take on Hillcrest in the finals of the competition in Durban at the Castle Rugby Day to be held on Saturday.
Vryheid wheel-spun right out of the change room and accelerated to the try line to open the scoring at 7-0 in the first 5 minutes of the game, which put a damper on the home crowd’s spirits.
But after a yellow card was awarded to the visiting team’s lock forward for ‘handbag exchanging’, Vryheid broke down in the engine room, and Richards Bay took full advantage.
JP Rossouw kicked a penalty to open the scoring for the home side, before outside centre Jimmy Enslin dotted down under the sticks for an intercept try, which Rossouw converted to hand the Bay brutes a 10-7 lead.
Enslin’s GPS was working perfectly, when he found himself under the poles for his second try, after crossing the whitewash at close quarters from a ruck.
Rossouw obliged to convert and the scoreboard read 17-7.
As Vryheid’s chasse started to rattle, Rossouw kicked two penalties to extend the lead to 23-7.
But Vryheid’s left winger had the last say of the first half, scoring his second try to end the half at 23-14.
Both sides played good rugby, with the home team dominating in the forwards and the backs.
Final spot sealed
High School debutante Marius Robarts opened the scoring in the second half with a sensational try, which resulted in Vryheid’s wheels falling off.
The visiting captain received a yellow card for a repeated infringement which gave the Bay the extra man at scrum time.
Enslin scored his third after Rossouw did all the hard work, stepping the Vryheid flyhalf and beating three players to put Enslin away.
Replacement scrumhalf Steven Reynolds then scored his first try of the day which Rossouw converted to take the score to 40-14.
Unfortunately the hosts fell into their bad habit of not finishing strongly, which allowed Vryheid back into the game.
This resulted in two tries and a yellow card to Matthew Calitz.
But time ran out and the Bay stars walked away with a superb victory, cementing their spot in the final.
