Mark Snyman, Helpmekaar Kollege captain, congratulates winger David Cary after one of his four tries. Ben Clarke (right) joins them.
Helpmekaar run Jeppe ragged
Helpmekaar Kollege from Braamfontein travelled to Jeppe High School for Boys on 29 March for a midweek afternoon of schoolboy rugby. Helpmekaar enjoyed the better results, but none more significant that the result of the 1st XV when Helpies overcame Jeppe by 64-0 and in the process recorded their highest winning margin according to the history books available at 1XV level, director of rugby Eugene Marais, confirmed.
In a feast of running rugby, the dangerous Helpmekaar backline was on song, scoring no less than six tries with their back three with David Cary equalling the team’s record of four tries in a 1XV rugby match as well, sharing this feat with past players Ryno Vermaak and Pieter Bierman.
Within a minute from the kick-off, Helpies captain Mark Snyman went over for his first try of the season after a well worked lineout move went across the field and Snyman broke the Jeppe defensive line after which the forwards drove it over to give their captain a five-pointer. And that was only the start of a fast-paced game which resulted in no less than 10 tries for the visitors.
Both teams contested well to retain their ball in the loose with Helpies having a slight edge forcing 4 turnovers to 2, and in the scrums, Helpies won all their balls, but Jeppe lost three balls giving Helpies the upper hand in this department.
Jeppe had the better day with the kicks out of hand, managing an 85% success rate, whilst Helpies, who attempted to make the game as fast as possible, only achieved 75% with the boot. But this did not seem to phase Helpies, as they dominated the lineout play. It was here where Helpies drew the proverbial line in the sand. Helpmekaar had a 100% accuracy until the last lineout when the replacement thrower attempted his only throw but without success. Jeppe had a tough old time getting the ball back into play from the sideline due to excellent defensive lineout work by Helpies, struggling to get the black-and-white ball successfully back into play on their throw.
Read into the stats what you will, but considering the score line, it is interesting that Jeppe was the more disciplined of the two teams in respect of the penalty count. Jeppe only conceded two penalties the entire match, whilst Helpies conceded 13 penalties and were given a yellow card for a tip tackle.
With Mark Snyman leading the way (across the advantage line), his Helpies pack dominated and set a platform from which the backs could attack.Snyman was devastating with ball in hand, putting in 8 decent runs to keep his team on the front foot. He was well supported by Liam van den Berg who recorded some solid carries of his own. Van den Berg was the star up front in the second half. Lock JC Kruger, who was excellent in the air all afternoon, almost scored a try of his own after a run of almost 30 metres through the Jeppe defences.
Two of the best players on the field were the halfbacks Ruhan Viviers and Tristan Oosthuizen.Viviers played an absolute blinder. Oosthuizen was clinical, and from there the speedometer exceeded the mundane with regularity. Helpies had in excess of 50 carries, gaining almost 850 metres in doing so. Jeppe, in contrast, struggled to get over the advantage line, despite hard work by their halfbacks to gain ground, could not manage a gain of 250 metres from only 15 carries, half of which came from the exciting outside centre Muzi Manyike who put in two 30m+ runs with very little quality ball to work with.
The man with the wheels, however, was Helpies winger David Cary. Cary scored four tries after exceptional work in the first half, almost burning a footpath down the left-hand touchline as he put in 5 solid runs of almost 180 metres in total, making him a very deserving man of the match for his team, and a player to keep an eye on for the rest of the season.
For Helpies, tries were scored by Mark Snyman, David Cary (4), Tommy van Tonder, Zach Boonzaaier, Tristan Oosthuizen, Lehan du Toit and Ruhan Viviers. Tristan Oosthuizen converted 7 of the 10 tries.