Affies win great match
Affies of Pretoria beat Grey of Bloemfontein 35-29 in an FNB Classic Clash played in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon. It was a wonderful match, played at great speed and intensity.
Affies can thank their pack for the victory but that is only half the story as they are a 15-man team and play 15-man rugby.
Certainly their massive pack was dominant and in the end Grey were possibly flattered by the score and yet it was their grit and determination that got the score as close as it did – a score looking better through a try at the death. That they scored a try at the death says much about Grey College from Bloemfontein and why it is such a great rugby school.
The game was fast from the very start and the first opportunities were a break by Ryno Eksteen of Affies and a 54-metre penalty attempt by EW Viljoen that hit an upright and stayed out.
Affies won a Grey line-out and attacked. Ryno Eksteen and WP Eloff were close and then Heinrich Viljoen scored the first try after 15 minutes.
Soon afterwards flyhalf Barend Bornman broke brilliantly and Awie Thompson went on a short burst to score. 7-5 after 18 minutes. However, two minutes later Ryno Eksteen goaled a tackle penalty to restore Affies’ lead.
A brilliant break by Ryno Venter led to the next Affies score. He was tackled by fullback EW Viljoen but popped a pass to chunky scrumhalf Louis Venter who scored. 15-7 after 28 minutes.
Grey attacked but Affies stole their line-out. Pieter Jordaan kicked a penalty goal and then from an Affies scrum on the right, Marcus Kleinbooi cut through. Tackled he passed to Nico Lee who gave to the big fullback Thys van Wyk who scored in the left corner. That made it 20-10 after 33 minutes.
Grey attacked from the start of the second half. Pieter Jordaan had a promising break and after a grubber Gareth de Bruin was close. They went wide left and wing Lezar Marnewick, whose father had captained Grey in the mid-1980s, scored. 20-17.
Grey were in touch but a poor pass from a scrum was pounced on by Jurie Linde and Affies looked certain to score, but a pass went astray.
Grey were penalised for collapsing a line-out maul and Ryno Eksteen made it 23-17 but back came Grey as Affies’ handling broke down and Gareth de Bruin footed through for Pieter Faber to score in the right corner. 23-22 after 51 minutes.
Grey kicked downfield and speedy Andries van der Merwe started a counter-attack that ended with Janse van Rensburg selling a dummy and diving over for a try. 30-22 after 54 minutes.
Grey were close as they chased a bouncing kick and opted for a tap kick at a penalty in front of their posts but the Affies defence was strong and instead they went to the other end, had a five-metre scrum, bashed and went wide for a try by Jurie Linde. 35-22 with six minutes to play.
Pieter Faber raced down the right wing to set Grey attacking again. From a five-metre scrum, Grey bashed at the Affies’ line till replacement scrumhalf Arrie Vosloo, a Craven Week player in 2011, dotted the ball down neatly against the padding of the posts for a try. He kicked the conversion but there were only seconds in the match left.
There was a wonderful atmosphere at the match – a crowd of some 20,000. There was a big Grey contingent as there were 28 rugby matches on the day plus hockey and other activities. Both schools sang and cheered, and at the end they rushed onto the field to greet their brave players.
The scorers:
For Affies:
Tries: Heinrich Viljoen, Louis Venter, Thys van Wyk, Janse van Rensburg, Jurie Linde
Cons: Ryno Eksteen 2
Pens: Eksteen 2
For Grey College:
Tries: Awie Thompson, Lezar Marnewick, Pieter Faber, Arrie Vosloo
Cons: Pieter Jordaan 2, Vosloo
Pens: Jordaan
The teams:
Affies: 15 Thys van Wyk, 14 Marcus Kleinbooi, 13 Jurie Linde, 12 Nico Lee, 11 Andries van der Merwe, 10 Ryno Eksteen, 9 Louis Venter, 8 Steven Meiring, 7 Albert van Heerden, 6 Albert van Heerden, 5 Janse van Rensburg, 4 Jean Droste, 3 WP Eloff, 2 François Steyn, 1 Pierre Schoeman (captain).
Replacements: 16 Xander Swart, 17 Cornél de Waal, 18 Gerhard de Beer, 19 Calvonn Allison, 20 Heinrich Lombard, 21 Marchant van den Heever, 22 Henco Posthumus.
Grey College: 15 EW Viljoen, 14 Pieter Faber, 13 Stephan Janse van Rensburg, 12 Pieter Jordaan (captain), 11 Lezar Marnewick, 10 Barend Bornman, 9 Heinrich Sander, 8 Reinard Arndt, 7 Marius Louw, 6 Gareth de Bruin, 5 Awie Thompson, 4 Rico Wasserman, 3 Ruan Kramer, 2 Corniel Els, 1 Andrew du Plessis.
Replacements: 16 Markus Odendaal, 17 Deville Piek, 18 Dylan Harlen, 19 Ruben Bouwer, 20 Arrie Vosloo, 21 Carl Durow, 22 Theo Ferreira.
Referee: Ben Crouse (Blue Bulls Referees’ Society)
