Bishops earned a hard fought 13-8 victory at Rondebosch. The win completed a Southern Suburbs first round hat trick or Triple Crown as it’s better known after victories over SACS and Wynberg earlier in the term. It was as hard a Triple Crown as any Southern Suburbs team could hope to have achieved in any given season.
The match which could just as easily seen Bosch claim a Triple Crown proved to be a titanic battle. Bosch did almost everything right to build a decent lead in the first half. They just somehow could not turn the P&T into scoreboard points.
Big tighthead Nic Swier blasted over for the home team’s main point contribution of the half to build on a penalty they added to make it eight points in the first half. That was all they got out of the match.
Bishops’ effort was inspired by no.8 Aiden Norris who had an outstanding match as a ball-carrier in heavy traffic. He got his team over the advantage line time-and-time again. However the key moment was delivered by the exceptional pacy fullback Gilermo Mentoe, who just never-ever stops thrilling spectators with his brilliance. His try set up the Platinum Blues for a half-time lead of 10-8, which went completely against the stats.
In the second half, Bishops seem to turn the screws for a good deal of the half but only had a penalty to show for all their efforts. This failure to turn pressure into points almost counted against them in the end.
The last few minutes of the match was a pulsating, nail-biting affair. Rondebosch found their second wind and produced a two huge sustained onslaughts in the red zone. The home team had to be praised for their composure and continuity. The door to the tryline just would not open though. There were several drives that looked certain to break the Bishops’ resistance.
Full-marks to the Bishops defence for seeing that one out. It was mammoth.
With Rondebosch and Wynberg have been red-hot in a number of games against a number of highly rated opponents this season, overcoming them is no mean feat.
Definitely a feather in the cap for highly rated head coach Wes Chetty and his coaching team. Chetty is without doubt one of the coaches on the SBR circuit with a very high rugby IQ.
@BoschBoy: Nice story about Wes. Those are always the fun stories to hear.
About the points, so previously I tried to use the whole 4-try bonus point thing, which worked well when Tony Stoops was updating Stoopstats with every tryscorer etc. However it proved a bit tricky to go back and look at the history.
So I adopted a 6-point per game system.
3 each for a draw
4 – 2 for a win/loss by 7 or less points
5 – 1 for a win/loss by between 8 and 14 points
6 – 0 for a win/loss by more than 14 points
I went to school with Wes at Bosch, actually played U14E rugby with him until he took rugby seriously and soared to our A teams (and eventually First XV). He’s a really stand-up guy, great human being and excellent rugby pedigree.
In terms of the game on Saturday, I have to give credit to both teams for excellent defensive efforts. It had a test match feel to it, a great intensity. Overall, the Bishops team deserved the win on the balance of everything, and had the better opportunities. Bishops have a reputation of just being a team that “runs” everything but in this game, and in the win against Berg, it shows there is more to their approach than just attack.
@Beet: Question, how is the scoring for the SS Derby log calculated?
@Toffee: Thanks.
@ Vleis He is the same Wes Chetty. Played prop for Rondebosch as a schoolboy and then played for the Ikey Tigers for many years before moving to the Bay (he did come back to the Ikeys for one season). Coached the Ikeys Young Guns for a season or two. A real club man.
Hi beet. I was at the BishBosch game – as you say, sensational defence by Bishops at the end, but the Bosch #13 also made a lot of try saving cover defence tackles during the game. On social media, I noticed Sam Mofokeng being praised for Bishops’ defence at the end, so I assume that he’s an assistant coach of the team? Also, I presume that it is the same Sam who coached cricket at St Alban’s and then moved down to KZN to coach rugby at Kearsney and/or House? My lightie rated him as a coach and as a person.
On a related note, I presume that the W Chetty on the False Bay team sheet (I’ve watched a few of their games this season) is the same person as the head coach of Bishops? If so, no celebratory beers for him after the game, as he’d have had to dash off to Villagers to prepare for his own game.
Watched the SACS Wynberg game then watched this Bishops/Rondebosch game via SS when I got home without knowing the score. A great game of rugby and Kudo’s to Bishops who have done a lot of work after a poor 2022. The same to SACS who have improved across all teams and age groups. They have a strong under 14 age group. It is turning out to be one of the most competitive years. I predict Wynberg will win the “triple crown” in the second half of the season.