Waterkloof crush Garsfontein in preparation for Monnas

May 18 • School, School Rugby Results • 4559 Views • Comments Off on Waterkloof crush Garsfontein in preparation for Monnas

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James Loretz – Pretoria

Waterkloof put together another good performance when they made the short trip down to Garsfontein for a mid-week clash which saw them run in 10 tries to crush a spirited Garsfontein 62-12.

Waterkloof coach Thys Stoltz told Rugby15.co.za that his team is playing at about 70% of full strength after the squad had to play provincial trials yesterday evening. Star players flyhalf Francois Tredoux and regular captain and flanker De Wet Meyer picked up some niggles during the trials and it was decided not to risk them ahead of the FNB Classic Clash against Monument on Saturday.

As expected the Waterkloof forwards dominated Garsfontein at scrum time and especially during the mauls, which also led to Waterkloof scoring the first try after only a few minutes of play as 8th-man Roelof Smit crossed over in the corner. Waterkloof continued to dominate the collisions and with quick ball from the base they had Garsfontein scrambling unsuccessfully on defense to plug the holes, with Christiaan de Bruyn and Sean Robinson also adding their names to the growing list of try scorers. Neither teams will be happy with their performance at the line-outs.

Waterkloof were then struck by a string of injuries that forced the coaching staff to shuffle the majority of the team and saw them finish the rest of the match with 5 players playing out of position. One such change saw winger Duncan Matthews shift to flyhalf. If it were not for the numbers on the back of the players’ jerseys, he could have fooled many people into believing that he was Waterkloof’s regular flyhalf. Matthews controlled the game with precision and even crossed the line for two tries of own as he danced his way past defenders. Matthews could very well be compared to the multi-talented Brent Russell with his potent stepping and sudden acceleration to break through tackles. He kept Garsfontein’s defense busy the whole match.

Waterkloof crossed over the line one more time before the referee signalled half time. Trailing 36-0 at the break, Garsfontein knew they would have to play out of their skins if they wanted to have any say in the rest of the match. Waterkloof crushed any such hopes early in the second half as Rohan Jansen van Rensburg and Nico Steenkamp scored two quick tries. Garsfontein started to settle down in the second half and through numerous penalties at the breakdown worked their way towards the Waterkloof try-line where the hooker Frikkie van Rensburg managed to cross over for a very hard-fought try.

Waterkloof scored their 9^th try of the match a few minutes later with Garsfontein also managing a second try under the posts when they found a bit of space in the midfield. It was however Waterkloof’s big prop Marne Coetzee that had the final say of the match when he found acres of space in front of him and sprinted close to 40m to show the Cheetahs’ WP Nel how to really do the “bomb-dive”.

Waterkloof coach Thys Stoltz told Rugby15.co.za afterwards that he was happy with the win, especially since so many players were playing out of position in the second half.

Waterkloof face Monument on Saturday in a big FNB Classic Clash that will also be televised live on SuperSport 5 @ 13h50.