On 15 March, the 2023 Res Rugby season officially kicked off. The u/20s played the first game and served as a great entrée for the senior matches that followed. PDBY made sure to cover the two main senior games: OP Village versus House Mopane and Morula Legae versus House Tau.
The defending champion, OP Village, faced former semi-finalist House Mopane in the first match of the season. The score was 0-0 for a large part of the first half, an indication of how closely the residences fought to win the match. As both teams battled it out, OP soon built themselves a comfortable 20-12 lead. However, the match ended abruptly when loadshedding flooded the field in darkness. Note that there was very little time left to play at this point, so Mopane would have needed a miraculous play to make their comeback.
In the second match, Morula Legae and House Tau tried their best to beat each other. Ultimately, Morula Legae dominated, proving themselves to be worthy contenders with a 14-0 win over House Tau. Now the question remains, was Morula Legae’s defense simply rock solid, or did House Tau need to sharpen their attack?
One thing can be concluded from watching the senior games: Res Rugby is back and this season promises to be a great one for the fans.
Christiaan Steenekamp