Stellenberg 1stXV hosted Paarl Gim 1stXV yesterday and once again showed what committed players and coaching staff can achieve as they lost 12-06 to a very good Paarl Gim 1stXV.
It was an early-season fixture with both teams still looking for their "best" combinations and options to guide them in a very demanding 2022 rugby year.
Although this match was still up for grabs until the last seconds of the game, Paarl Gim was dominant for most of the time with only heroic and desperate defence by the host keeping the scoreboard quiet.
As expected Paarl Gim played a conservative gameplan, using their dominant forwards to set up opportunities for their dangerous backs. Several opportunities to convert penalties into points were declined, as Gim preferred to kick to the corner and set up driving mauls. Unfortunately, early-season mistakes cost them several scoring opportunities from these mauls.
Stellenberg was a much better-oiled unit and showed the same defensive brilliance as they did against Drostdy HTS a week ago, keeping a much stronger pack of forwards from scoring tries. Stellenberg's performance is once again a strong message that this team is one of the best in the country and will claim more "famous" scalps during the season.
Gim was on the attack from the word go, however, could only score their first try after 16 minutes of play. They followed that up with another from a lineout-maul try 14 minutes later to end the half with a 12-0 lead.
The second half was a more even affair with Stellenberg getting their hands on some quality attacking ball and threatening to score once on a few occasions. Two converted penalties by Stellenberg narrowed the gap to only six points with 15 minutes to go. The last 20 minutes were a ding dong battle between two great teams in an entertaining period of play.
Scorers:
Stellenberg 1stXV: Penalties:Tommie Smook (2)
Paarl Gimnasium 1stXV: Tries: Emrique Liedeman, Luca Bakkes. Conversion: Liam Koen.
Teams:
Stellenberg 1stXV: 15. Jayson January, 14. Chad van Wyk, 13. Gideon Anderson, 12. Damian Markus, 11. Ughan Africa, 10. Tommie Smook, 9. Aiden Muller, 8. Kobus Verster, 7. Wessel Joubert, 6. Daniel Kennon, 5. Corne Bruwer, 4. Stiaan Grobbelaar, 3. Herman Lubbe, 2. Franco Roux, 1. Skye Watkins.
Paarl Gimnasium 1stXV: 15. Shaun Ray, 14. Logan Opperman, 13. Janiel Losper, 12. PA van Niekerk, 11. Johandre van Niekerk, 10. Liam Koen, 9. Emrique Liedeman, 8. Louw du Toit, 7. Dean Crouse, 6. Willie de Waal, 5. Keanu Coetsee, 4. Slabbert Maartens, 3. Bernard Bladergroen, 2. Luca Bakkes, 1. Jean Fourie.
