Christiaan Steenekamp
After a long and challenging season of student rugby, it all came down to the business end on 13 September. In a rematch of last year’s final, Onderstepoort (OP) took on Sonop Men’s Residence. Many wondered if it would be a repeat of last year’s match where OP came out victorious or if Sonop would get their vengeance.
It was a cold and windy evening as the two teams lit up a tightly contested match. Neither team gave an inch away and made sure to put in a few big hits. Yet, it was OP who opened the scoring with a well-worked try under the posts after absorbing heaps of pressure from Sonop’s relentless attack. Sonop suffered a yellow card due to multiple infringements. In a nail-biting defensive first half, it ended with the score 7-0 in OP’s favour.
The two sides came out of the tunnel with determination in their eyes for the final half of the season’s rugby. Sonop came out firing in the second half, pouncing on OP’s mistakes to score 13 unanswered points. Sonop placed themselves in the lead by playing a smart kicking and attacking game, pinning OP in their half. Through this pressure, they forced the errors to crop up. Though with minutes on the clock, OP had one final chance to score a match-winning try. It was Sonop who defended desperately to keep OP at bay, and through this, they forced a turnover. This is how good defence can win matches. The ball was kicked out, and the referee called for the end of the titanic struggle. Sonop
had redeemed themselves from last year’s final and came out the victors with a final score of 13-7.
It was a great match between two exciting sides giving it their all. Well done to Sonop. Now, the anticipation builds for the return of Res rugby.
