What started as a genuine contest ended as a masterclass in clinical finishing. Affies weathered an early Outeniqua storm before unleashing an avalanche of tries in a ruthless second-half display, running out comprehensive 55-26 winners on day two of the Absa Wildeklawer.
The scoreline doesn’t tell the full story. For 35 minutes, the Kwaggas made Affies work for every inch. But in the second stanza, the boys from Pretoria found another gear , or three, and put on an attacking clinic that had the crowd purring.
Affies drew first blood within four minutes. A perfectly weighted grubber from Reuben Smith caught the Outeniqua defence napping, and Affies pounced on the loose ball to score. 7-0 to the men from the capital, and it looked ominous for the Kwaggas.
But Outeniqua weren’t intimidated. Two minutes later, they hit back with serious intent. Gerrit Janse Van Rensburg found space on the outside and burned the defenders with blistering pace, dotting down under the posts. 7-7. Game on.
The Kwaggas’ tails were up. They got into the Affies 22 and refused to leave, bashing away at the defence with wave after wave of attacks. When Affies finally couldn’t hold them out, they sent it wide to Heiliano Beukes, who darted in for the try. 14-7 to Outeniqua, and suddenly the boys from George were leading.
Affies refused to be bested. With 10 minutes left in the half, they flew into the Outeniqua 22 courtesy of some brilliant running from Dandré Brink. They kept ball in hand, laying siege to the Kwaggas’ line with patience and precision. Finally, space opened up, and who else but Brink walked in for the try. He’d been threatening all half, and finally got his reward. 14-12.
The momentum had shifted. Minutes later, Affies bashed through again to take the lead. 19-14.
On the stroke of halftime, Affies scored again. After brutal close-quarter battles, they shifted it wide and crossed in the corner. 24-14 at the break. Affies were looking strong after weathering that early Outeniqua scare.
The floodgates open
Affies started the second half exactly where they’d finished the first, on the front foot. Six minutes in, they scored again, pushing the lead to 31-14. The Kwaggas were wobbling.
But Outeniqua showed character. Gerrit Janse Van Rensburg grabbed his brace as the Kwaggas battered the Affies line. When space finally opened up, they got it out wide to Van Rensburg, who glided between defenders to dot down. 31-19. Hope flickered.
It was quickly extinguished. Mere minutes later, Rico du Plessis went over for Affies. 38-19 with 20 minutes to go, and the writing was on the wall.
Then Affies started showing off.
With 12 minutes left, an Outeniqua kick that didn’t go to touch sparked the chaos. Affies attacked, going forward before shifting the ball wide. On the last phase, three metres out, Fourie Roberts spotted the space as defenders shifted, expecting the ball to go wide again. He sniped around the ruck and dived over. 43-19. Clinical. Ruthless.
Outeniqua pulled one back with three minutes left, cutting it to 43-26, but Affies weren’t done.
Rico du Plessis put the final nail in the Kwagga coffin, going over in the corner following a beautifully worked strike move from a scrum. 48-26. One more kickoff to go.
From the final kickoff, Affies decided to put on a show. First, Rico du Plessis made a massive amount of metres before offloading to Johan Smith. Smith gained more ground before giving it to Ethan van Zyl, who finished with a flourish.
After a competitive first half where Outeniqua genuinely troubled them, the boys from Pretoria found their rhythm and ran riot. Their ability to shift from forward brutality to wide attacking play was exceptional, and their clinical finishing in the second half was a joy to watch.
Dandré Brink was superb, constantly threatening with ball in hand. Rico du Plessis grabbed a brace and was involved in multiple other scores.
