Bishops vs Rondebosch

Another victory handed to the wrong team when an inexcusable mistake made by an assistant referee directly led to a try scored by the winning team. Bishops was on the attack inside Rondebosch's 22 when Mike Mavovana knocked the ball in an attempt to intercept. Mavovana gained control of the ball and ran almost the length of the field to score underneath the posts. This incident happened in front of the assistant referee and should have been called.

Rondebosch 

The winning points came with just a minute to play when SA Schools wing Make Mavovana raced 60 thrilling metres down the tight touchline to score in the corner.

Rondebosch who for the most part prevented Bishops from being Bishops, led for most of the match and then Jean Pienaar, the Bishops captain, son of Francois, burst away for a try which gave his side a 26-25 lead with 14 minutes to play.

 

Mavovana made the first try possible. From a line-out on the Rondebosch left he had an overlap on the right inside his own half ran and then kicked down towards the Bishops line where Harry Makin managed to get to the ball first by Mavovana forced him over the line for a five-metre scrum. Rondebosch win the scrum and went right - Hylton Goatley to scrumhalf Robbie Davis who ran across field and then nipped between two defenders to score. 7-0 after 7 minutes.

Sam Cragg, the sturdy Rondebosch flyhalf, who had grandfathers who played against each other in the Bishops-Rondebosch match in 1951, kicked a penalty and Rondebosch led 8-0 and then converted Mavovana's first try.

 .15-0 after minutes.

It seemed that Rondebosch were on their way to their huge win of last year but from a line-out on the Rondebosch 22, Harry Makin, the Bishops scrumhalf, sold a dummy and broke clean through and scored. 15-5.

Five minutes later Rondebosch scored again. A penalty gave them a five-metre line-out which gave them a five-metre scrum. They bashed and loose forward-turned-centre Zaka Sallie forced his way over for a try. 22-5 after 28 minutes. Rondebosch did not score another try for 27 minutes, but when they did it counted most.

Just before half-time, Bishops scored a try of deceptive simplicity. From a line-out on their left Makin gave to flyhalf James Macdonald whop ran straight ahead, beating two defenders to score. That made the half-time score 22-12 to Rondebosch.

Early in the second half Cragg goaled a penalty but then Bishops got well into the Rondebosch 22 where Rondebosch were penalised. James Macdonald tapped and gave to Pienaar on his left. Pienaar passed to strong left wing Seb Prentice who went over for a try, which Makin converted. 25-19 after 46 minutes.

The next score, 10 minutes later, started with an error of sorts. Bishops threw into a line-out just outside the Rondebosch 22 but it turned out to be a felix culpa as Pienaar grabbed it on the bounce, beat two defenders and ran away to score. That is where Bishops got the lead which they held for 13 minutes and Mavovana's try when Rondebosch attacked off a Bishops kick.

It was a lively match with players running, passing, tackling and doing so many things well. We are dupes if we believe that Test rugby is better than this.

Scorers:

For Bishops:
Tries: Harry Makin, James Macdonald, Seb Prentice, Jean Pienaar
Cons: Harry Makin 3

For Rondebosch:
Tries: Robbie Davis, Mike Mavovana 2, Zaka Sallie
Cons: Sam Cragg 2
Pens: Sam Cragg 2

Teams

Bishops: 15 Brandon van der Westhuizen, 14 Tom Lewis, 13 Labelo Scott, 12 Rob Macdonald, 11 Seb Prentice, 10 James Macdonald, 9 Harry Makin, 8 Jean Pienaar (captain), 7 Byron Cranswick, 6 Cullum Diem, 5 Luke Viljoen, 4 Christian Stehlik, 3 JP Smith, 2 Jason Hofmeyr, 1 Alasdair Jewson
Replacements: Clyde de Beer, Zico Oaker, Ghaalieb Kenny, Marcus Knight, Daniel van der Valk, Aydan Labuschagne, George Spencer

Rondebosch: 15 Mike Mavovana, 14 DJ Falconer, 13 Zaka Sallie, 12 Blake van der Bijl, 11 Ross Roode, 10 Sam Cragg, 9 Robbie Davis, 8 Hylton Goatley, 7 Cal Smid, 6 Garth Shenker (captain), 5 Braden Tredoux, 4 Matthew Grobler,  3 Chulu Mputing, 2 Devon Arendse, 1 Tomasz de Rosenwerth
Replacements: 16 Suhaib Ajmoodien, 17  Matthew Horrigan, 18 Shaakir Sallie, 19 Cheyne Robertson, 20 Josh  Lubbe, 21 James Janse van Rensburg, 22  Dane Stevens, 23     Kyle Fredericks

Referee: Petri Bosch (Western Province Referees' Society)
Assistant referees: Calum Wehmeyer (Western Province Referees' Society), Kyle Jackson (Western Province Referees' Society)