Primrose RFC delivered an impressive, polished second-half performance to clinch the WP Super League C title with a pulsating 37-25 triumph over the MC Boys at City Park on Saturday afternoon (14 September).
There will be many Macassar supporters disappointed at the team’s failure to clinch the WP Super League C title, but there is consolation for their promotion to Super League B which ultimately far outweighs Saturday’s defeat.
There was always some anxiety that the MC Boys, having been so outstanding in beating Atlantis in a must-win semi-final given the failure to overcome that hurdle for two consecutive years, might have played their final a fortnight early.
And although the Macassar coaching staff would have warned them of the pitfalls, it is hard to back up the effort and the depths of emotion it takes to get the better of a team like Primrose coached by our very own Helderberg resident Ricky Petersen.
While no-one ever doubted Macassar’s ability to beat Primrose for the trophy, one can’t deny their quality. A fine team coached by Petersen, who knows a thing or two about winning titles, having coached CPUT to their first Varsity Shield in 2019. Macassar were the first to put points on the board with a long-range 55 m penalty by Garth de Bruin. A start that would ignite the contest for what was to come.
But what was supposed to be a celebratory match of two quality teams that had gained promotion to a higher league was hampered by no more than five yellow cards, which resulted in a loose and frantic match.
Both teams tried to assert dominance in the earlier stages, but too many handling errors, especially from Macassar, was costly. Their set piece malfunctioned, and it was the men from Primrose who were more clinical. This was evident with a 20 m driving maul, which resulted in a well-converted try ending the first stanza with Macassar behind 8-12.
Macassar were valiant in their approach as they tried to get a handle on the match. Captain Leshwin Love (scrumhalf) was sublime on the day. His solo try in the second period was magical and sparked the turning point in the match for Macassar.
This was, however, short-lived as a yellow-carded offence to inform strongman Anwar Benjamin (prop) and Garth de Bruin (flyhalf) was detrimental, and the MC Boys had no right to be in the fight at this point, let alone closing on full time.
The two teams had come into the final with a reputation for playing attacking rugby. They didn’t disappoint the capacity City Park, Athlone crowd despite the ill-discipline and frantic loose game by delivering two action-packed halves nonetheless, which eventually finished in favour of a jubilant Primrose team winning 25-37.
