Paul Roos outclassed Affies 45-28 at the Markotter Stadium in Stellenbosch, despite earning three yellow cards. Paul Roos once again showed brilliant speed, handling and interplay against an Affies side that struggled in the scrums and on the attack.
Paul Roos dominated the first half, and Affies were “lucky” to trail 11-24 at the halftime break. Despite an early fightback by Affies to cut Paul Roos’ lead to 24-23, Paul Roos scored twenty-one unanswered points in ten minutes to secure a well-deserved 45-28 win.
Affies opened the score with an early penalty; however, thereafter, Paul Roos dominated proceedings and scored the first try after just three minutes of play. Paul Roos’ scrummie took a quick tap, spread the ball to Gerard Bekker, who crashed over. Travis Pheiffer converted the try and led 07-03 after ten minutes of play.
Three minutes later, Paul Roos attacked from a turnover, and Kyle Snyers put the ball onto the boot and outsprinted the defenders to crash on the ball for Paul Roos’ second try. Travis Pheiffer converted to extend Pul Roos’ lead to 14-03.
Four minutes later, Affies spread the ball wide to Joshua Gouws, who crashed over in the corner to cut Paul Roos’ lead to 14-08.
Travis Pheiffer converted a penalty after twenty minutes of play, to which Reuben Smith converted a penalty for Affies.
With seven minutes to play, Paul Roos was shown a yellow card, and Affies set up a lineout just outside Paul Roos 22m. Unfortunately, poor passing by the Affies backline led to Travis Pheiffer intercepting and running seventy meters to score Paul Roos’ fourth try. Pheiffer converted to extend Paul Roos’ lead to 24-11.
A second yellow card to Paul Roos, with time almost up in the first half, Affies attacked off a lineout, which led to another penalty. Affies took a quick tap, and following several attempts to cross the tryline, Paul Roos’ defence forced an error to go into the second half, leading 24-11.
A mistake by the thirteen-man Paul Roos led to a great try by Affies, who spread the ball wide from a scrum for winger Joshua Gouws to stroll over in the corner to cut Paul Roos’ lead to 24-16.
Affies continued their pressure on Paul Roos’ defence, and Dandré Brink beat several defenders down the touchline to score Affies’ third try. Reuben Smith converted to make it a one-point game, with twenty minutes still to play in the second half.
Paul Roos reply was immediate when Travis Pheiffer scored his second try of the day, following brilliant interplay and handling by Paul Roos. Travis Pheiffer added the extra two points to extend Paul Roos’ lead to 31-23.
Two minutes later, Tiaan Basson scored Paul Roos’ second try in two minutes with once again brilliant interplay and handling. Travis Pheiffer converted to extend Paul Roos’ lead to 38-23.
Thereafter, the floodgates opened, and Tristan Armitage added his name to the scoring sheets, Paul Roos scoring twenty-one points in ten minutes to end the hopes of Affies.
Affies scored a consolation try when Martin van Niekerk crashed over to cut Paul Roos’ lead to 45-28, which was the final score.
Scorers
Paul Roos: Tries: Gerard Bekker, Kyle Snyers, Travis Pheiffer (2), Tiaan Basson, Tristan Armitage. Conversions: Travis Pheiffer (6). Penalty: Travis Pheiffer.
Affies: Tries: Joshua Gouws (2), Dandré Brink. Conversion: Reuben Smith. Penalty: Reuben Smith (2)
Teams:
Paul Roos Gimnasium: 15 Kyle Snyers, 14 Tevez Cupido, 13 Jean Hamman, 12 Tiaan Basson (c), 11 Cadynn Samuels, 10 Travis Pheiffer, 9 Tristan Armitage, 8 Werner de Bruin, 7 Gerard Bekker, 6 Christian le Roux, 5 Sebastian Cilliers, 4 Stef de Villiers, 3 Zak Steyn, 2 Lehan Barnard, 1 Thomas Meyer.
Affies: 15 Kyle van Staden, 14 Dandré Brink, 13 Estian Marx, 12 Juan Ferreira, 11 Joshua Gouws, 10 Reuben Smith, 9 Fourie Roberts, 8 Janno Geyser, 7 Caleb Pretorius, 6 Lohan Bitzer, 5 Reubenne Vlok, 4 Martin van Niekerk (c), 3 Hannes Nagel, 2 Carl Els, 1 Francois de Beer.