Bishops sweep Saints aside

The very large crowd that surrounded the Piley Rees Field on Monday 5 May 2014 will long remember how privileged they were to witness the renaissance of Bishops rugby as the hosts put a rather flat St Andrew’s side to the sword, winning this long-standing derby 39-15.

The clear sky and a biting south-easterly breeze might have had the spectators shivering, but it made the conditions ideal for what is traditionally a spectacle of all that is good about the schoolboy game.

Both sides made it abundantly clear that they were intent on running the ball at every opportunity and, unsurprisingly, the first try was not long in coming.

A quick ruck clear-out saw the ball whip down the backline to where fullback Gerard Pieterse cut through at a perfect angle, lengthened his stride and outpaced a bemused Saints defence. (Bishops 5 St Andrew’s 0 – 4 minutes)

The tendency of the home forwards to slow down their opponents’ ruck ball, which cost them a yellow card midway through the second half, saw them put their own line under pressure with a brief flurry of infringements, providing the Grahamstown side with the opportunity to level the score.

A sortie by the visiting backline broke down just short of the Bishops line, only for the ball to suddenly pop up in the hosts’ in-goal area, much to the surprise of Saints full-back Brendon Owen, who promptly dotted it down. (Bishops 5 St Andrew’s 5 – 16 minutes)

The Pearly Whites saw this as a timely reminder to get their act together and, several probing attacks later, they got their reward. A quick move down the left saw No.8 Saud Abrahams feed left wing André Manuel, who immediately passed to flank Nic Bester on his inside who scored a copybook five-pointer. (Bishops 10 St Andrew’s 5 – 22 minutes)

Just two minutes later the locals went on the attack again, but a courageous tackle by Saints flank Peter Kroon stopped them in their tracks.

The visitors’ apparent unwillingness to utilize their full backline was making corralling them fairly easy for Bishops, but some powerful driving play by the Saints pack, in which prop Adrian Parsons was prominent throughout, saw them awarded a penalty right in front of the posts and just ten metres out. Owen accepted the generous invitation. (Bishops 10 St Andrew’s 8 – 28 minutes)

What happened next proved to be a turning point in the game.

Irrepressible Bishops right wing Keenan Jacobs retrieved a Saints’ kick ahead deep in his 22 metre area, broke down the right touchline and linked up with inside centre Jesse Wilensky who, in turn, found his midfield partner, Justin Heunis, ranging up on his outside.

The two exchanged passes before Heunis saw an open line beckoning, sprinted thirty metres and dived over near the corner to gasps of sheer astonishment. (Bishops 15 St Andrew’s 8– 30 minutes)

Before their heads had stopped shaking in disbelief, the Eastern Cape lads were lining up behind their tryline again.

In a move reminiscent of the one that yielded the opening try of the match, Wilensky broke to the left and didn’t need to look to know that Pieterse was flying through on his inside, ready for a precision pop pass, to dot down his second try of the game. Half time: Bishops 20 St Andrew’s 8.

The early stages of the second half once again found the St Andrew’s backline battling to find a way through a well-ordered home defence, relying increasingly on Parsons and lanky lock Hamish Hughes to get the side on the front foot.

For several minutes play swung between the two 22 metre areas, only for another ruck transgression to prevent Bishops from adding to their score.

When the Saints found themselves near the home line, their predictable backline’s lack of penetration cost them dearly time and again.

The hosts then delivered a stunning lesson in just creative backline play could achieve.

An expansive move covering the full width of the field landed up in Pieterse’s magical hands. He wasted barely a second in sending Heunis clear of the bamboozled defence to score under the crossbar. Cornel Smit, who had recently replaced Manuel, finally raised the flags with the conversion. (Bishops 27 St Andrew’s 8 – 51 minutes)

There was still plenty of time for Jacobs to make his mark on proceedings and he opened his account with a stunning individual effort. Sent away on the right by Pieterse, he chipped the ball over the oncoming defence and outpaced them with consummate ease to dive on the bouncing ball. Smit added the conversion. (Bishops 34 St Andrew’s 8 – 56 minutes)

Prevented from adding to their tally by a marginal offside decision, Bishops found themselves on the receiving end of a bit of good luck in the run-up to their final try.

A clever grubber by Smit rebounded off a defender’s leg, straight into the hands of Abrahams, who sent Jacobs away on a thrilling 40 metre dash to the tryline. (Bishops 39 St Andrew’s 8 – 62 minutes)

The home team could be excused for tiring briefly at this stage and justice was served whenoutside centre Tom Lane, the only consistently threatening Saints threequarter, scythed through a hesitant defence to score at the posts for Owen’s to convert. Final score: Bishops 39 St Andrew’s 15.

Bishops have every reason to be overjoyed at their performance. Particularly encouraging was Smit’s return to full fitness as he might well be the one to banish their place-kicking woes, while the new, leaner and meaner version of Saud Abrahams has gone a long way towards silencing those critics who have dared to question his manoeuvrability.

It would be no exaggeration to say that the ultra-slick Bishops backline looked like scoring virtually every time they got the ball, but that would be doing a grave injustice to a tenacious St Andrew’s team that defended like men possessed.

Their coaching team can draw considerable strength from the hard work achieved by the pack, who had by far the better of both tight and loose exchanges, often forcing their hosts to resort to illegal tactics for which they were unfailingly punished.

As for the backs, well, their lack of anything approaching originality as a unit cancelled out all the positives achieved by the front eight. Individually, they had their moments, but rugby is unfortunately a team game.

Local spectators are strongly advised to avail themselves of any opportunity which comes their way to see this Bishops team in action. It is a rare treat, one that everyone deserves.

Scorers:

For Bishops:

Tries: Gerard Pieterse 2, Nic Bester, Justin Heunis 2, Keenan Jacobs 2

Cons: Cornel Smit 2

For St Andrew's:

Tries: Brendon Owen, Tom Lane

Con: Brendon Owen

Pen: Brendon Owen

Teams

Bishops: 15. Gerard Pieterse (captain), 14. Keenan Jacobs, 13. Justin Heunis, 12. Jesse Wilensky, 11. André Manuel, 10. Jez MacIntyre, 9.  Justin Rowe-Roberts, 8. Saud Abrahams, 7. Nic Bester, 6. Mervano da Silva,  5. Max Linley,  4. Sam Mitchell,  3. JP Smith ,  2. Justin Carey, 1. William Day     

St Andrews: 15. Brendan Owen, 14. Ben Dovey, 13. Tom Lane, 12. Robert Ball (captain), 11. Courtney Archer, 10. Hugo de la Fargue, 9. Luke Alexandre, 8. Matt Andrews, 7. Gordon Everard, 6. Peter Kroon, 5. Jono More, 4. Hamish Hughes, 3. Adrian Parsons, 2. Brian Ferguson, 1. Stephen Cragg

By Tony Stoops

Results Down the Years

 1896: Bishops won 5-0

 1898: Bishops won 9-0

 1903: Bishops won 5-0

 1921: St Andrew's won 15-0

 1922: Bishops won 18-3

 1923: Bishops won 3-0

 1924: Draw 8-8

 1925: Bishops won 3-0

 1926: St Andrew's won 28-0

 1927: Draw 3-3

 1928: Bishops won 11-3

 1929: Bishops won 20-9

 1930: Bishops won 23-6

 1931: Bishops won 16-0

 1932: Bishops won 13-12

 1933: St Andrew's won 9-8

 1934: St Andrew's won 21-3

 1935: St Andrew's won 6-5

 1936: Bishops won 24-0

 1937: Bishops won 8-6

 1938: Draw 3-3

 1939: St Andrew's won 16-0

 1940-45: World War II

 1946:: Draw 11-11

 1947: Bishops won 8-6

 1948: Bishops won 9-3

 1949: Bishops won 6-3

 1950: Bishops won 14-0

 1951: St Andrew's won 5-3

 1952: Bishops won 3-0

 1953: St Andrew's won 28-0

 1954: Bishops won 14-3

 1955: Bishops won 8-3

 1956: Draw 3-3

 1957: St Andrew's won 9-6

 1958: Bishops won 6-3

 1959: St Andrew's won 16-3

 1960: St Andrew's won 25-0

 1961: Bishops won 11-5

 1962: Bishops won 8-3

 1963: St Andrew's won 11-3

 1964: Bishops won 19-12

 1965: Bishops won 3-0

 1966: St Andrew's won 12-8

 1967: St Andrew's won 6-0

 1968: Bishops won 11-9

 1969: St Andrew's won 17-3

 1970: St Andrew's won 8-6

 1971: St Andrew's won 6-3

 1972: Bishops won 10-3

 1973: Bishops won 12-11

 1974: Bishops won 12-0

 1975: St Andrew's won 15-0

 1976: Bishops won 19-9

 1977: Bishops won 41-3

 1978: St Andrew's won 9-4

 1979: Bishops won 49-3

 1980: Bishops won 9-3

 1981: Bishops won 18-6

 1982: Bishops won 25-12

 1983: Bishops won 23-12

 1984: Bishops won 13-12

 1985: No match

 1986: Bishops won 30-3

 1987: Bishops won 11-3

 1988: Bishops won 50-6

 1989: Bishops won 19-9

1990: St Andrew's won 15-4

1991: Bishops won 19-16

1992: Bishops won 41-17

1993: Bishops won 21-18

1994: Bishops won 30-21

1995: No match

1996: Bishops won 18-12

1997: St Andrew's won 47-17

1998: St Andrew's won 20-19

1999: Bishops won 27-20

2000: St Andrew's won 18-17

2001: St Andrew's won 19-15

2002: Bishops won 27-8

2003: Draw 12-12

2004: St Andrew's won 10-8

2005: St Andrew's won 28-10

2006: Bishops won 41-6

2007: No match

2008: Bishops won 64-18

2009: Bishops won 17-12

2010: Bishops won 25-24

2011: Bishops won 26-22

2012: St Andrew's won 19-16

2013: St Andrew's won 28-21

2014: Bishops won 39-15