Affies hosted KES on Saturday hoping to secure their first home win since 2015. KES put up a great fight but eventually were outplayed in the second half to lose 43-20.
A lot has been said regarding the new game plan Affies is busy developing throughout the age groups. A lot of the supporters do understand that the result eventually will be brilliant, however, four losses in eight matches in 2023 was making a lot of supporters unhappy and restless. However, if Affies can play seventy minutes as they did in the first twenty-five minutes of the second half they will return to being a credible contender for being ranked first on Ruggas.co.za 1stXV Rankings.
Affies 1stXV started like a house on fire and scored their first try after only three minutes of play in the first half. However, KES's comeback was helped by several soft penalties conceded by Affies and Affies' seeming inability to catch the final pass or make that final pass.
A physical first thirty-five minutes had both teams spending long periods in the others' 22m with Affies leading 12-10 going into the second half.
A "new" Affies 1stXV started the second half upping their speed of play and physicality. KES started making errors on the defence which was the direct reason for Affies first try of the second half after just seven minutes of play.
Affies dominance continued for the next fifteen minutes of play. Three tries were scored by Affies in this period, two after great interplay and handling by their backs and one from the back of a lineout maul. Affies led 38-10 with eight minutes left to play in the second half and seemingly on their way to a big win.
However, KES slowed the game down and used their physical forwards to maul and launched wave after ave of physical attacks on the Affies tryline. KES scored two forwards' tries to narrow the gap to 20-38 to which Affies answered with a driving maul to score their seventh try, winning 43-20.
A great day of rugby was as usual replayed at Klub600, however, a lot less sweat and blood was shed by the supporters who promised to meet again in 2024 at KES.