PETERHOUSE BOYS’ 17-26 HOERSKOOL RUSTENBURG
Hoërskool Rustenburg, after running the gauntlet of high-flying Kearsney College and Durban High School (DHS) in their first two matches of KERF, took on Peterhouse on Monday in Botha’s Hill.
They found there was no let-up. Their Zimbabwean opposition began with impressive tempo, resisting Rusties’ early territorial advantage before powering their way into the opposition’s half.
Bongani Dube, then, gave the boys in white the lead in the fifth minute. His excellent hands wrong-footed the opposition, who thought a pass had missed the hooker. He snatched it out of the air, spun around and found open ground in front of him before pinning his ears back and racing through for a try. Victor Watama tacked on the extras, and it was 7-0.
Momentum favoured the Marondera mob, who looked more energised than Rustenburg after the North West boys’ earlier travails, and Dube placed Peterhouse heavily on the offensive again with another barnstorming run
They edged further ahead five minutes from the interval when Victor Watama banged over an easy penalty kick.
Down by 10, Rustenburg, at last, sprang to life, with tighthead prop Dylan Knoesen leading the charge. He was involved three times, battering Peterhouse’s defensive line to give the boys in green good forward momentum, which led to Rustenburg finally scoring two minutes from halftime, when Keegan Harmse burrowed over from close range. Flyhalf Ricardo Enos had no trouble with the conversion kick.
At the interval, Peterhouse led 10-7. Given their dominance, it felt as if they should have built a bigger lead, but only three points separated the teams.
Rustenburg played with greater flow early in the second half, tightening up their play with their forwards leading the way. When Peterhouse lost a prop to a yellow card, Rusties opted for a scrum and turned that into a try in the right-hand corner by lock Thian Labuschagne. It also gave them the lead for the first time in the contest.
Peterhouse soon struck back. Watama launched a testing high kick from inside his 22 towards the left touchline, where lock Mufaro Mawoyo contested the catch, won the ball, and then released his captain Munashe Masamha, who showed the Rusties’ defenders a clean pair of heels to score from 55 metres out.
Watama bolstered the Peterhouse score by another two points by making the simple conversion kick.
The rollercoaster nature of the clash continued, with Rustenburg returning to Peterhouse’s 22, where they charged down a clearing kick, but it fell kindly for the Zimbabweans, and they were able to exit momentarily.
Rustenburg, though, soon found a way through, taking the ball through six phases before Labuschagne corkscrewed over for his second try and Rusties’ third. Enos made the kick from directly in front of the uprights, and the lead changed hands again.
Late in the game, fatigue was evident. A third energy-sapping, physical clash had taken a toll, and play became frenetic and scrappy. Rustenburg, though, held the advantage, with a put-in five metres from the Peterhouse try line, and they sealed the deal with a hat-trick try from Labuschagne.
Ricardo Enos hit the mark again, and Rusties trudged off Stott Field with a hard-fought 26-17 win.
Scores
Peterhouse 17 (10) – Tries: Bongani Dube, Munashe Masamha. Conversions: Victor Watama (2). Penalty: Victor Watama
Rustenburg 26 (7) – Tries: Thian Labuschagne (3), Keegan Harmse. Conversions: Ricardo Enos (3)
Photographer : Gabrielle Swanepoel
