Port Natal Night Series 2014: Matchday 2 reports

The annual Port Natal Night Series sponsored by the Geldenhuys Broers Bedryf is in full swing. Three entertaining rugby matches were contested on Tuesday night, matchday 2 of the tournament.

Pinetown 19-15 Durban Development

I arrived just before halftime and was pleasantly surprised to see the Durban Development team slotting a penalty to extend their lead to 15-5 which they held until the break. They must have had a decent first half to have gained that lead. I imagined that their big pack of forwards had played a big part in the half.

Development had a vital chance to put the game away in the second half. Their blonde-haired centre who had had a good stepping run a few minutes earlier in the half, undid all his good work this time around when he lost control of the ball in the act of grounding it while he was diving over for what would have been the winning try. The score remained at 15-5. The DD also could have made more of a few chances if their backs had straightened and passed earlier when space was there to explore on the outside.  Instead they drifted and opted to take contact.

As the game wore on Pinetown’s superior fitness started to count. Pinetown got numbers to the tackled ball, had more possession and followed up their second try making it 12-15, with a late late winning try. They were clearly happy with their come from behind win.

Port Natal 8 – 0 George Campbell

Just about everytime these two sides have taken each other on in the Night Series, it has been tight and physical affair. This game was no exception. I had the benefit of sitting near fans of the opposing teams and they amplified the intensity of the game. Both sides showed improvement over their first round games. The main battle took place up front where both sets of defences tended to dominate the others attacking attempts, hence the low final score. The difference maker was Port Natal’s superior backline play.

Compared to the previous game, Campbell had better service from the base of the rucks and scrums for most of this match.There is however still hard work on structure and cohesion ahead as their backs struggled to make the same kind of go-forward impact witnessed from their teams of previous seasons. With regards to discipline at the breakdown, here Campbell showed a huge improvement over their first round match.

Port Natal are still not doing enough to give their line quality front-foot ball achieved via sucking defenders in but they definitely had more options than Campbell in this department. Port Natal always look at their best and most dangerous when they move the ball slickly through the hands and their second half try proved to be a good example of their good handling skills. The try started with a missed touch clearance by Campbell. The Porties left wing wearing the #21 jersey (Andre Bothma) set off on a really strong return carry run, which generated the momentum for the try. From there those good ball handling skills mentioned above came into play as the ball was worked out wide quickly, where ace finisher right wing Chestwin Gaffley once again showed a clean set of heels and finished in style in the corner. Flyhalf Carlo Gresse who had given the White Knights a 3-0 halftime lead could not convert this try from the corner.

Port Natal crossed their visitors’ line again in the 20^th minute but the try was ruled out due to the ball going forward earlier in the move.

A hard fought and very good win for Porties in the end. They remain unbeaten in the series while Campbell are still looking for their first win of 2014.

 Glenwood Invitation A 26-5 DHS

There was a wonderful atmosphere for this game. Traditional warcries such as “Swat the Fly” and “I’d rather be a Horsefly than go to Glenwood High” were to be heard.

DHS were up for this game which turned out to be by far the fastest paced match of the day. In spite of DHS’s readiness, the Glenwood Invitation XV was on a different level at the start. Their play in the opening minutes was reminiscent of a Grey College performance. It was all about speed and precision, making it extremely difficult for the relatively well organised DHS defence to stop the attacks before they crossed the gain-line.

The most impressive feature of the GI’s attack was their support play. Ball-carriers seemed to always have options to pass to on both sides, an indication of the high level of fitness that the GI’s  arrived at this tournament with. Their ruck clearing was also of a high standard. Tries by fullback Jaydon Morgan and flank James Venter, who stood out for his high workrate had the GI’s up 12-0 in next to no time at all. Donovan Du Randt, this time playing in his more familiar position of outside centre was once again charged with kicking duties.

The GI’s gave run-ons to a new halfback pairing for this match. Scrumhalf Kwazi Khanyile’s urgency and appreciation of quick distribution made a world of difference at the base of the breakdown. It was a bit surprising to see normal centre Ruben Fouche starting at flyhalf and he did really well here, bring composure and giving direction to the dangerous backline. Inside centre Ruan van Rensburg also has to be praised for his great handling.   

DHS settled after the initial shock to their system. They look to be a well drilled outfit and their technique for contesting ball on the ground should stand them in good stead later in the season. Once they started to get to grips with the pace, they opened their account with a good try. It began when a lineout close to the GI’s tryline didn’t produce the rolling drive they wanted, DHS opted to feed the line. A wonderful delayed pop pass from flyhalf Le Roux van Zyl, set strong running inside centre Blessing Buthelezi off on an unstoppable charge that resulted in a try. The halftime score was 12-5.

Ruben Fouche opened the GIs account in the second half, when he used strength on his feet to get past a tackler and then added useful pace to get over for a good individualistic try. The kick made it 19-5.

DHS rallied well and showed a lot of commitment throughout the game. They adjusted tactics slightly and well placed kicks over the top that turned the GI’s could have had a far greater effect had these been backed up by better first time tackles when they had their opponents under the cosh. A memorable DHS bit of play came when their fullback Mubutana Peter pulled off one of the best last line of defence tackles any rugby spectator anywhere could hope to see.

Late in the game, hooker McMillan Muller forced his way over in the left corner after being fed the ball from a tap penalty. Du Randt’s third conversion of the evening was a beaut and concluded the scoring at 26-5.

The Glenwood Invitation team were incredibly good in all departments with the exception of their lineouts which need a some work. For DHS, who don’t have the depth of Glenwood and therefore have to pace themselves more carefully ahead of the regular season, this was a very good preseason test from which I’m sure they learned a lot about their own ability as a team.