Boland Landbou - Boss on the Farm

Oakdale attacked first and scored first but then the home side built up a healthy lead and it was 27-10  with 12 minutes to play. Two Oakdale tries in those five minutes gave Oakdale a sniff of victory. They attacked but a penalty snuffed out their chances of victory.

In the beginning it was all Oakdale. they enjoyed possession and territory, helped by a succession of six penalties. They missed two penalty attempts, bashed and were kept out and then their first score came as a surprise.

Boland Landbou relieved the pressure with a kick down into the Oakdale half where left wing Pietie Uys got the ball raced up to the Boland Landbou 10-metre line and dropped for goal – a low kick that  kept on going till it was over and the visitors led 3-0 after 8 minutes.

Gradually Boland Landbou got back into the game and down into the Oakdale half. Boland Landbou scrumhalf, Deon Carstens, lobbed a box kick down towards the cornerpost on the Oakdale left. The ball bounced high as flank Heinrich Brendell jumped to contest the ball. He fell to ground and so did the ball but Brendell was alert enough to grab the ball and ground it over the line for a try right in the corner. Boland Landbou led 85-3 which became 8-3 when flyhalf Janlu Steenkamp goaled a penalty from just inside his own half and about eight metres from touch. 8-3 after 26 minutes.

But three minutes later Oakdale got the lead back. They attacked the Boland Landbou line after fullback Adonis had broken and given to flank Stiaan Wasserman who popped a pass to right wing NJ Simon who scored near the posts. Uys converted and it was 10-8 to Oakdale after 29 minutes.

Two minutes later it was Boland Landbou's turn. From a line-out they attacked right and then left getting closer and closer after a charge by Heino Strümpher. They moved the ball left. Fullback Louis Frylinck was in the line but the pass his way was bouncing behind him. He got the ball under great pressure and in one movement sent an underarm offload to outside centre Durin Nasson who was over on the far left. 13-10 to Boland Landbou, the half-time score.

Boland Landbou did the early attacking in the second half. From a penalty they had a five-metre line-out but Oakdale repelled their maul. From a scrum five metres from the Oakdale line, well to the right of the posts, Boland Landbou went blind with an 8-9-14, Kevin Reed-Carstens-Hoffman who scored in the right corner. Steenkamp converted from touch. 20-10 after 48 minutes.

Boland Landbou attacked again. They tried another line-out maul but were repelled again. Then Steenkamp broke and Boland Landbou bashed. They chose a scrum at a penalty five metres from their line, but they knocked on and Oakdale cleared.

they thought they had scored when left wing Adriaan Stander darted ahead, chipped, chased and got the bounce to go over but on the way he had shoved an Oakdale player aside and was penalised for it.

But Boland Landbou got their try when they came back on the attack, bashing ahead till inside centre Henlo Marais forced his way over at the posts. 27-10 after 58 minutes.

The result seemed settled but Oakdale, bless them, did not believe so. They turned a penalty into a line-out, mauled and drove it forward over the line for a try credited to captain WP van Heerden. 27-15 after 62 minutes. just 8 minutes to go.

Adonis broke and Oakdale went through advancing phases. Adonis was close. Boland Landbou were penalised five metres from their line. Outside centre Hanno Olivier tapped and without finesse charged at the line, through the defence and scored. 27-22 with 45 seconds left. Boland Landbou dominated those 45 seconds, and when Oakdale were penalised at a desperate breakdown, Boland Landbou kicked out for the victory.

It was certainly a lively encounter of great character by both sides.

Scorers:

For Boland Landbou:

Tries: Heinrich Brendell, Durin Nasson, Duren Hoffman, Henlo Marais

Con: Janlu Steenkamp 2

Pen: Janlu Steenkamp

For Oakdale:

Tries: NJ Simon, WP van Heerden, Nico van Eeden

Con: Pietie Uys 2

Drop: Pietie Uys

Teams

Boland Landbou: 15 Louis Frylinck, 14 Duren Hoffman, 13 Durin Nasson, 12 Henlo Marais, 11 Adriaan Stander, 10 Janlu Steenkamp, 9 Deon Carstens, 8 Kevin Reed, 7 Heinrich Brendel (captain), 6 Henro Meyer, 5 Herman le Roux, 4 Jandré Maree, 3 Christiaan Olivier, 2 Heino Strümpher, 1 Albert Coetzee

Replacements: 16 Francois Bruwer, 17 Stefan Alberts, 18 Mervin Roos, 19 Calvin Lourens, 20 Tiaan Toerien, 21 Luther McKay, 22 JG Basson, 23 Jordan Nel

Oakdale: 15 Darren Adonis, 14 NJ Simon, 13 Nicolus van Eeden, 12 Jay-Cee Nel, 11 Pietie Uys, 10 Xavier Swartbooi, 9 Lian Du Toit, 8 WP van Heerden (captain), 7 Hanno Olivier, 6 Stiaan Wasserman, 5 JC Lourens, 4 Jaco Smit, 3 André Posthumus, 2 Marko van der Merwe, 1 Dian Bleuler

Replacements: 16 SP Kleynhans, 17 Ruan Lampbrecht, 18 Daniel van der Berg, 19 Daniel Victor, 20 Janu Kraus, 21 Daniel Muller, 22 Luke Hertz, 23 Neil Hugo

Referee: Nathan Barry (Western Province Referees' Society)

Assistant referees: Jason Barrish (Western Province Referees' Society), Ryan Deacon (Western Province Referees' Society)