DHS came away from Clifton’s home of rugby at Riverside, Durban North with a resounding 50-10 victory over their hosts.
A very strict referee took charge of the match and lost his patience early on with the way both teams played the ball at the rucks. This resulted in four yellow cards being issued during the match. It did not affect DHS’s rhythm too much though. Their game-plan fell nicely into place even with just 14 players on the pitch for almost half the match. The DHS tight-forwards helped to secure good ball. From this base, the willingness of DHS’s ball runners and backs to create opportunities for support players by attacking the spaces and making selfless meaningful passes rather than dying with the ball saw them play very attractive to watch rugby. It was one of those games when all the players on the winning team were either good or made to look good.
The Clifton’s forwards withstood the challenges in the tight-loose exchanges but as a team they were outplayed in broken play. Here the hosts let themselves down on defence. They did not look hungry enough to stop DHS behind the advantage line, rather affording DHS the room and time to build up speed, make correct decisions and execute without being pressurised. Clifton didn’t cope with the DHS’s upperbody strength either and missed many key first time tackles. They also didn’t bring enough of a presence in the form of second line defence. Another disappointment for the home team was the overall failure of their own lineout which should have been an area of strength given the presence of 2.04m KZN Craven Week candidate Andrew Evans. Although the setpiece started well for the home team, who even made things difficult on DHS throw-ins at first, it fell apart as the game got older. Miscommunication, lack of accuracy and some good counter-jumping by DHS lock Liam Whitfield were in part to blame.
There were however some pleasing performances by Clifton players. Scrumhalf turned flyhalf Karl Goedeke gave it his all and had a good second half. Young tighthead prop Calvin Zandamela produced an incredible work-rate, showing good character. Left wing Ilias Sourlis was solid.
DHS’s first of 8 tries, scored in the 2nd minute set the tone. A training ground move came off thanks to beautiful quick passing by big no.8 Mthokozisi Ntuli , centre Luyanda Ndabandaba and flank Sibusiso Mkhalipi which opened up a clear path to the tryline and saw the latter cross the line unopposed. Scrumhalf Gareth Simpson kicked the first 2 of his 20 points, making it 7-0.
Playmaker Ndabandaba then turned try scorer when he charged down and gathered Clifton no.10 Finn Cleaver’s clearance kick from inside the 22m area. 12-0 after 9 minutes.
In the 15th minute, DHS turned over a ball in their own half. Blindside flank Matt Hamilton’s carry generated the front-foot platform after which a few good passes wide saw the ball end up in the hands of underrated fullback Dillon Bryan, who spotted a hole and backed himself on a long tackle evading run all the way to the tryline. 19-0
More delightful draw and pass play in the 20th minute resulted in a one-on-one in which DHS left wing Joel Kidgell knocked off his tackler, freeing up the path to race in and make it 24-0.
The DHS offensive action continued to come thick and fast. By holding the ball in two hands, and looking for the right pass to make, Ndabandaba kept Clifton defenders guessing as he weaved his way by a few missed tackles before linking with Kidgell for the 5th try. With the kick it was 29-0 after just 22 minutes.
Clifton then produced their first meaningful attack started at the back with a strong run by quick fullback Cayden Porter, which brought Cleaver to within a metre of scoring a try. The home team camped in the redzone for a while but resilient DHS defence denied them any points from that visit.
Just before the break, DHS were rewarded with a soft try. Off the back of a scrum, Ntuli popped a pass to Simpson, who didn’t need a second invitation to race into an unmarked straight-line channel that lead all the way to tryline from a long way out. He goaled his try, making it 36-0 at halftime.
Clifton was a lot more competitive during the second half, losing it just 10-14, this after making a few costly mistakes. Their first points were the combined effort of a Goedeke base kick into space, chased hard by Sourlis, which earned Clifton a penalty in an attacking position. From there they kept up the pressure and some smart short passes eventually unlocked the DHS defence, allowing flank Cameron Maingard to pick the right line and cross the white chalk for an unconverted try.
Clifton backed this up with a second try by their other flank Ruben Vosloo, who made the cardinal sin of running sideways but still managed to live up to his trademark ability to stay on his feet in contact. This power and persistence got him home as he forced his way over with defenders hanging onto him. 36-10.
DHS’s Simpson scored a second long range run in try in similar fashion to his first. The notable difference being that this time Clifton was guilty of leaving the ball unattended after it popped out the back of their own scrum. 43-10.
With time running out, Clifton threw caution to the wind. By forcing play a poor pass gifted the DHS replacement with a pick up behind the defensive line and an easy run if for the final try. 50-10.
CLIFTON | DHS | ||
---|---|---|---|
1 | Christopher Munz | 1 | Hero Mpanza |
2 | Jordan O’Connor | 2 | Aza Tshuthsa |
3 | Calvin Zandamela | 3 | Tiaan de Jager |
4 | Oliver Milne | 4 | Liam Whitfield |
5 | Andrew Evans | 5 | Ndumiso Ngcobo |
6 | Cameron Maingard | 6 | Sibusiso Mkhalipi |
7 | Ruben Vosloo | 7 | Matthew Hamilton |
8 | Cae Erskine | 8 | Mthokozisi Ntuli (c) |
9 | Karl-Heinz Goedeke | 9 | Gareth Simpson |
10 | Finn Cleaver | 10 | Gert Coetzee |
11 | Ilias Sourlis | 11 | Joel Kidgell |
12 | Massimo Conversano | 12 | Luyanda Ndabandaba |
13 | Guy Arbuthnot | 13 | Mvumeleni Mathenjwa |
14 | Bradley Herdon | 14 | Phuzukuvela Sithole |
15 | Cayden Porter | 15 | Dillon Bryan |
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