Affies beat promising Eldoraigne

Match Report

Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool managed to beat the new kids on the block, Eldoraigne, by 23-16 in a Michelin Series match in Pretoria on Saturday, although they were made to work much harder for this victory than they would have expected.

The home team made it obvious from the kick-off that they intended to use their bulky pack of forwards to unsettle their much-vaunted opponents. The Affie forwards were, however, not in a mood to be outdone and they were in impressive form especially in the scrums where SA Academy prop, Frik Kirsten, gave his immediate opponent a real working over. Affies opened their account after a sniping break by flyhalf Niel Jacobs sent left wing Ruan de Jager over in the corner. Affies surged back onto the attack and fullback Gerhard van den Heever increased their lead to 8-0 with a penalty from 30 metres out.

Eldoraigne scrumhalf Danny Botha put the first points onto the board for the home team through a penalty, and then the underdogs shocked Affies with probably the try of the match. They gained possession on their own 22m line and launched an attack in which various forwards and backs handled. Centre Werner Taljaard crossed the Affie try-line and Botha converted to put the hosts 10-8 up at halftime.

Affies started the second half with a bang. In probably their best period of play of the match, Van den Heever restored their lead with a scintillating try after an excellent backline move. From the resultant kick-off they showed the kind of rugby they are capable of and surged right back onto the attack. The move was halted under the Eldoraigne posts with a penalty awarded to the visitors. Van den Heever was on target to give Affies a 16-10 lead.

Eldoraigne fought back well, though, and inexplicably declined two opportunities to kick at posts. This period of play must be extremely worrying to the Affies faithful, as they conceded a string of penalties after their discipline seemed to slip. Flank Marco Louw received a yellow card and allowed Eldoraigne’s Francois du Plessis to close the gap through a well-taken penalty.

Affies showed their character though and after turning down an opportunity to kick at posts, Niel Jacobs capped a fine performance by scoring in the left-hand corner. Van den Heever converted from the touch-line to give the defending champions an unassailable lead.

Du Plessis scored the last points for the home team with another penalty.

Although Affies have gone through the league stages of this competition unbeaten, they will not be happy with their current form. On too many occasions good build-ups have been messed up with inept handling, and sublime bits of play are often undone by unforced errors.

Coaches Karel Stander and Fanie Grobler will surely use the April festivals to iron out chinks in their armour.

Eldoraigne can look forward to the knock-out stages of the Michelin series after good victories over Nelspruit and Ermelo in their first year in this competition. They are certainly no push-overs.

Scorers:

For Affies:
Tries: Ruan de Jager, Gerhard van den Heever, Niel Jacobs
Con: Gerhard van den Heever
Pens: Gerhard van den Heever 2

For Eldoraigne:
Try: Werner Taljaard
Con: Danny Botha
Pens: Danny Botha, Francois du Plessis 2

Other matches:

Under-16A: Affies won 13-10
Under-15A: Affies won  38-5
Under-14A: Affies won  26-3

By Billy Brown of Affies