Brave Border are Winners

The Border Under-13 rugby squad recently returned from the national Under-13 Coca Cola Youth Week held at Glenwood High School in Durban, KwaZulu Natal.  The team enjoyed a highly successful week, winning three of the four matches played, succumbing only to tournament winners Western Province in the final match of the week.  

It is indeed a rare thing for a rugby coach to come across a group of boys who simply refuse to give in, who battle tooth and nail to the bitter end, regardless of the situation they may find themselves in.  I had the privilege of coaching such a group.  The success of this side was achieved largely through one word, BELIEF.  It was belief that if they stuck to the plan, and backed themselves, they would get home in the end.  

I have always been a great fan of TOTAL RUGBY where all players, regardless of their given position on the field, are able to handle the ball freely and make sound decisions on attack.  The very first thing that struck me when I began working with this team was the fact that they all did indeed possess these characteristics.  At our initial training session, we discussed our strengths as a team.  We identified that our best chance at rolling over opposition would be to adopt a rather unconventional style of play.  We would need to rely on our skill set and fitness to literally “outrun” whoever we played.  It was with this mindset that we met the Blue Bulls in the opening fixture of our Craven Week campaign.  We stuck to the plan beautifully and this resulted in a 52-10 win which saw many tries scored from inside our own half.  Belief was beginning to grow.

On day 2 we almost came unstuck against the Limpopo Blue Bulls, eventually holding on for a narrow 14-12 win.  We were poor by our own admission and knew we would need a considerable improvement to beat Eastern Province on Day 3.  

Unfortunately, we started this fixture poorly and trailing 0-13 at the break, were staring our first defeat in the face.  We huddled at half-time and spoke.  However, there was no sense of panic in the group.  The boys knew that they had not been up to standard in the first half, and that they had allowed the opposition to dictate.  Despite the current situation, we all truly believed that if we kept on playing our unique brand of rugby, we would eventually find a way back.  What followed in the second half was 25 minutes of ruthless attacking rugby and 24 unanswered points.  Belief had got us home.

We found out later that evening that we were to play Western Province in the final on Day 4 at Kings Park.  On the morning of the final at the closing ceremony, we received the much coveted award for the team that most epitomised the Craven Week spirit.  The award, voted for by referees and officials at the week, went to the team whose players and coaching staff displayed the best team spirit, behaviour and professionalism both on and off the field throughout the week.  Winning is one thing, but to be recognised for one’s behaviour and conduct off the field is of great importance to me and I was personally extremely proud of the team for this award.  

Unfortunately, we again started the match against Western Province poorly, conceding two tries in the first 10 minutes courtesy of two highly effective line-out drives by the Cape outfit.  We hit back with a try of our own but conceded again on half-time and went into the break 7-17.  Again, there was no panicking.  The belief was still there that we could play ourselves back into contention.  The second half was far more competitive and with 10 minutes to play, we were still in the game trailing 14-22.  However, on this occasion we were unable to close the gap and eventually lost 14-29.

With teary eyes, we huddled at the centre of the Kings Park pitch.  Although it was a hard pill to swallow at the time, we reminded ourselves of how far the team had come as a group.  From a solitary win in four games as Border Under-12s a year earlier, to six wins, a draw and a loss from eight games as Under-13s.  

At was an absolute privilege to be associated with these boys and I for one will be following their progress closely over the years.

Team

15 Siposisu Javu (Selborne)

14 Nande Owah (Gonubie)

13 Gugu Mngqibisa (Selborne)

12 Mntungwa Mapantsula (Selborne)

11 Lawula Bata (Dale)

10 Geraldo Flusk (Hangklip)

9 Marcello Flemmer (George Randell)

8 Tiaan Jonker (Grens)

7 Nicholas Marlow (Stirling)

6 Chulumanco Mfakadolo (Dale)

5 Jarrod Taylor (Selborne)

4 Rayden Masters (Selborne)

3 Jared Coetzee (Grens)

2 Jacques Goosen (Selborne)

1 Dean Stokes (Selborne)

16 Austin Brandt (George Randell)

17 Coley Pieterse (Queen's)

18 Buhle Matshaya (Dale)

19 Luke Hanner (Hudson Park)

20 Jordan Hendrikse (Dale)

21 Matthew Carelse (George Randell)

22 Olilita Maya (Selborne)

Head Coach: Miles Rayner (Hudson Park)

Assistant Coach: Erich Humpel (Queens)

Manager: Antonie Barnard  (George Randell)

Match Details

Border vs Blue Bulls, 52-10

Border ran in nine tries in demolishing the Blue Bulls 52-10. Left wing Lawuka Bata and fullback Siposiso Java got two tries each and the Bulls had no answer to Border’s pace, and their willingness to run the ball at every opportunity.

The markedly bigger Blue Bulls team tried to keep it tight – their tries came from lineout drives close to the Border line – but they were ineffective against the inventiveness and ball skills of the Eastern Cape side.

Scorers:

Border:

Tries: Chulumanco Mfakadolo, Lawuka Bata 2, Matthew Karelse, Mntungwa Mapantsula, Sipo Javu 2, Tiaan Jonker.

Cons: Jarrod Taylor (5), Marcello Flemmer.

Border vs Limpopo, 14-12

The Eastern Cape side continued to impress with their style of play and stayed undefeated, but had a major scare against the Far North team on Tuesday. Two tries in the opening minutes seemed to have the Limpopo team against the ropes, but to their credit, they regrouped and, at the final whistle,  it was Border hanging on to get the result. In the end, only a missed conversion stood between Limpopo and a well-deserved draw.

Scorers:

For Border:

Tries: Nnamdo Owah, Tiaan Jonker.

Cons: Jarrod Taylor 2

Border vs Eastern Province, 24-13

A stunning display of attacking rugby in the second half of their derby match against southern neighbours Eastern Province not only kept Border on the winning ways, but left EP taste defeat for the first time this week.

Border scored 24 unanswered points in the second half as they dominated play. The EP side could not live with the pace on the ball displayed by Border, who scored four times.

Scorers:

For Border:

Tries: Lawuka Bata, Mntungwa Mapantsula, Olilitha Maya, Siposiso Javu.

Cons: Jarrod Taylor 2

Western Province vs  Border, 29-14

Scorers:

For Border:

Tries: Austin Brandt, Siposiso Javu.

Cons: Jarrod Taylor 2

By Mile Rayner