KHUMO MEKGWE
Defending champions Mopanie beat Taaibos 13-3 in round six of the first team’s league of koshuisrugby last Tuesday.
Taaibos took a three-point lead after Mopanie were penalised for a faulty scrum.Taaibos fly-half Matthew Finestein converted the penalty. Four minutes later, Mopanie fly-half Evan Erasmus levelled the score to 3-3 with the game’s second penalty.
Taaibos were awarded another penalty just after the halfway mark but Finestein missed the penalty conversion. Erasmus increased Mopanie’s lead by three after a penalty taken near the 22-metre mark, making the score 6-3.
The game began to pick up pace after the 20-minute mark as both teams tried to score tries. In the 23rd minute, Mopanie began to play deep in Taaibos’ territory for the first time. Outside-centre Peter van Rooi scored the game’s first try after an influential right pass from flanker Christian du Toit at the ten-metre mark. Erasmus scored the game’s last points by converting the try to make the score 13-3. Finestein missed another penalty for Taaibos just before half time.
The score remained the same throughout the second half despite pressure from both teams. Taaibos inside-centre Quaid Openshaw was given a warning from the referee after a fight broke out during a scrum near the half way mark.
The second half was characterised by advantage play with five line outs and scrums. In the last ten minutes, Taaibos were stuck at the touchline with most of the line outs meters away from the goal line. Mopanie made the last effort of the game to get the ball over the try line but the full time whistle denied them another chance.
Taaibos captain Ryan Groenewald told Perdeby that he thought Mopanie were a good team. He said that the match was tight but he looks forward to playing them again.
The next set of koshuisrugby matches will be on 14 May.
Photo: Brad Donald
