I never realised how I missed Pretoria until I sat down to watch this epic battle. This match is known as the battle of the Moot and never ever have I walked away not in awe with the game I just saw. Although the score may not reflect the happenings on the field it was definitely one of most physical matches I saw this year with Tuine the king in that department, again.
Tuine started off like a house on fire trying to beat Oos Moot in the first ten minutes. With their big forwards, they played a clever ten man rugby game forcing Oos Moot to defend the whole time but they did not once slip a tackle. In the first half Tuine with Louis van Wyk, #7 leading was the boss on the ground turning possession over at several crucial stages with Oos Moot threatening to score. The first half ended with Oos Moot leading 20-6.
The second half saw Tuine attacking more with Oos Moot having to defend for extended periods. This time the loose trio of Oos Moot caused several crucial turnovers with Tuine on the attack. The boys from Tuine's downfall in this match was definitely not physical but rather not playing as a unit whereas Oos Moot was the more polished side keeping to their structured game plan with Edmund Ludick the wizard at #12.
For Oos Moot #12 Edmund Ludick, #6 Jaco Kruger and #7 Werner Diedericks stood out and as mentioned #7 Louis van Wyk, #1 Damen van Staden, #2 Justin Joubert for Tuine with Ruben Lazarus the #10 who made several sniping breaks causing Oos Moot a lot of headaches and if supported could have resulted in tries for Tuine.
Point Scorers:
Oos Moot: 34(20): Tries: Ludick (2), Kruger, Kok Conversions: Ludick(4) Penalties: Ludick(2)
Tuine 6(6): Penalties: Ruben Lazarus (2).