Both Helderberg Rugby Club and St George’s RFC opened their Super League A club rugby campaign with victories, albeit contrasting wins as Berge dominated in a 52–10 victory over Northern Tygerberg (NTK) RFC in Parow whilst the Lulu Boys fought hard at home to earn a 19–17 triumph over Brackenfell RFC.
Berge took just 10 minutes to put some points on the scoreboard, courtesy of a Tristan Leitch try. This opened the floodgates as tries by Jeandre Lukas, Jacques van Zyl, Ovain Engelbrecht and Naym Jansen followed. Micheal Visser converted at least two of the tries as Berge went in to the half 31-3 in the lead.
Berge continued to out–muscle their opponents in the second half as Quinn Visser chirped in with a try of his own after impressive play by flank Estehan Visagie and JJ Stover.
In the 44th minute, NTK responded with a penalty try to take the score to 38-10, but minutes later Jody Koul added his name to the scoreboard with a try that Visser converted.
Jurgen Dorfling completed the scoring for Berge in the 65th minute which Darren Hendricks converted, taking the final score to 52–10.
Despite looking a bit tired and lethargic towards the end, Berge were satisfied with their victory and will now focus on hosting Durbanville/Bellville at Charles Morkel Stadium in Strand this Saturday.
The St George’s game against Brackenfell was a very physical encounter which saw the bulk of the points scored in the first half. The action started early as Brackenfell opened the scoring in the first minute with a try (0-5). The Lulu Boys responded almost immediately with a try and conversion by Nazeem Wood (7–5). Bradley Mentoor scored another for the home side in the second minute (12–5), and in the third minute Brackenfell responded again with a try and conversion (12–12).
At the 10 minute mark Brackenfell went into the lead again with a try (12–17), which remained the score at the half–time break.
The teams struggled to get the better of each other in the second half, and eventually it was St George’s who proved the stronger of the two as Wood again showed mettle with his second try which he also converted (19-17), giving the Lulu Boys a memorable win in their first game of the season. This weekend St George’s will play their first away fixture of the season when they travel to Claremont to play Villager FC.
All Saints RFC, playing the Super League B this season, fell just two points short of victory, when they went down 18–16 to Belhar RFC. Peter Sauls put in a remarkable performance as he scored all the points for All Saints, which included one try, one conversion and three penalty kicks. But in the end, All Saints fell an excruciatingly two points short to record one loss after one game. This weekend they travel to Paarl to face Young Peoples RFC.
Also in Super League B, Strand RFC played against Paarl RC at Faure Street sports ground on Saturday and kicked off their season with a 40–7 bonus point victory. The youthful Strand team exceeded all expectations by dominating all round, and praised the likes of Eduardo Titus, Thomas Taljaard and Darren Huys. Tries were scored by Diego Visagie, Chad Adams, Eduardo Titus, Shaun Witbooi, Winston Jooste and Darren Huys, who scored five conversions. Strand RFC will not be playing this coming weekend.
It was not the perfect start to the season for Macassar RFC, who are playing in Super League C, as they lost 33-23 to Goodwood at home. The MC Boys now prepare for another home fixture this weekend when facing Kraaifontein.
