Limpopo much too good

Limpopo beat the Griffons 47-13 on the second day of Craven Week in East London. The scoreline did not flatter the boys from the far north of South Africa.

They outscored, out-ran, out-handled, out-jumped, out-pushed, out-behaved their opponents’ whose two yellow cards did not help their cause.

Limpopo had the match won in the first half. They played into the strong wind and scored four tries to a fortuitous one to lead 22-13 at the break.

You may have marvelled at the speed and skill of lock Grant Prior of the Eastern Province Country Districts but he was outdone by the Limpopo lock JJ Breet of Tzaneen. He scored four tries. Admittedly he also played eighthman but even for an eighthman this was an exceptional feat which probably established some sort of Craven Week record.

Breet scored the first two tries – the first  came from a great run by wing Maphuta Dolo who has speed and footwork. He gave inside to Breet who scored. The second came from a five-metre tap. Limpopo bashed and then lanky Breet picked up and went over the heap to dot down neatly.  That made the score 10-3 after 16 minutes.

For the third try Limpopo tapped. Arno Botha ran well and then gave to Breet who cut back against the traffic, got past four defenders, stretched and scored. That was his incredible hat-trick. 15-3 after 23 minutes.

Ryno Venter kicked his second penalty goal and then Limpopo again scored from a tapped kick. This time Johan van der Hoogt did the initial running and just when it seemed that the wonky handling would end things Danie Ludick danced back, straightened, sprinted and raced 45 metres to score at the posts. 22-6.

After Michael du Plessis had chipped to near the Limpopo line. Limpopo got the ball and did some extravagant passing which hooker Lenro Vergotini snatched in front of Breet, dropped to ground and scored. Du Plessis converted to give the Griffons a flattering score at half-time.

The second half was all Limpopo. Christiaan Buys kicked two penalties in a match of many, many penalties  and then there were more tries. When Andries Kruger knocked on under close pressure he knocked it to Gideon Blignaut who ran  from inside his own half to score. 33-13

The next run was even longer. The Griffons attacked and grubbered but not far from his own line Buys gathered the ball and then raced down the right side of the field to score. He converted. 40-13.

There was still time for Breet to score his fourth. This time flank Johan van der Hoogt made the running and passed inside to Breet who ran 30 metres to score as he was being tackled. Buys converted to end the scoring.

Scorers:

For Limpopo:
Tries: Breet 4, Ludick, Blignaut, Buys
Cons: Buys 3
Pens: Buys 2

For Griffons:
Try: Vergotini
Pens: Venter 2

Teams:

Griffons:15 Niel Neethling (Voortrekker), 14 Mochesela Mvula (Ficksburg), 13 Andries Kruger (AHS Kroonstad) , 12 Helgard Raubenheimer (Vrede), 11 Jonè Jansen (Gimnasium), 10 Ryno Venter (Hentie Cilliers), 9 Michael du Plessis (Goudveld), 8 Jacques Steyn (Goudveld), 7 Cloete Wessels (AHS Kroonstad), 6 Lomon van der Merwe (Voortrekker), 5 Pieter Griesel (AHS Kroonstad), 4 Jaco Taljaard (Wessel Maree), 3 PW Botha (Ficksburg), 2 Lenro Vergotinni (AHS Kroonstad), 1 Janno van Niekerk (Voortrekker), 16 Sello Mati (Goudveld), 17 Tumelo Nkopane (HTS), 18 Pierre Botes (Vrede), 19 Mandla Refilu (Marquard), 20 Arend Corbett (Voortrekker), 21 Simon Marcus (Wessel Maree), 22 Siviwe Booi (HTS)

Limpopo: 15 Christiaan Buys (Ben Vorster), 14 Maphuta Dolo (Ben Vorster), 13 Gideon Blignaut (Merensky), 12 Danie Ludick (Pietersburg), 11 Aaron Mothlabane (Frikkie Meyer), 10 Inkateko Shirilele (Merensky), 9 Tiaan Snyman (Pietersburg), 8 Arno Botha (Nylstroom), 7 Johan van der Hoogt (Ben Vorster) (captain) , 6 Sheriff Mthembi (Ben Vorster), 5 JJ Breet (Ben Vorster), 4 Ulrich Bester (Merensky), 3 Rynardt van Wyk (Merensky), 2 Emmanuel Simono (Pietersburg), 1 Hermann Lange (Nylstroom), 16 Jan Manganye (Phagameng), 17 Johan du Plooy (Ellisras), 18 Mashudu Mafela (Merensky), 19 Jacques Coetzee (Pietersburg), 20 Charles van Staden (Piet Potgieter), 21 Eugene Malepe (Ben Vorster), 22 Ashwin Lawrence (Louis Trichardt)

Referee: Luke Burger