Brits win FNB Classic

Match Report

Brits, the bigger school with the bigger pack won this FNB Classic Clash 31-7 against neighbours Wagpos on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Wagpos.

Despite the northerly wind it was a great afternoon for rugby, a cloudless, Highveld afternoon amongst the farm lands outside Brits. It was a day of carnival as the two neighbouring schools met with hardly place for one more around the field.

The match belonged to Brits, especially in the first half.

Wagpos battled to get possession. Their scrum was overpowered and they lost three against the head, saved in the first half when the referee three times penalised the stronger Brits pack. Brits also took five line-outs off Wagpos who suffered at scrums and line-outs after hooker Jandré Botes left the field with a damaged nose.

But Brits did not rely solely on their forwards. In fact they ran from the start, bringing fullback Okkie Janse van Rensburg into the backline at every opportunity. Sturdy inside centre Pierre Diedericks created many opportunities for his side.     

There were two tries in the match which were almost identical twins – the first and the last.

For both of them, flyhalf Hannes du Preez kicked high with his right boot towards the Wagpos cornerpost. For both of them powerful left wing Jacques Venter chased, got the bounce and scored far out. Du Preez, who started his goal-kicking with a woeful attempt earlier in the half, then converted them both.

Venter's first try, which came after Brits had won a turn-over, was right in the corner as he did well to gather a high bounce. That gave Brits a 7-0 lead after seven minutes.

Pierre Diedericks had two good breaks and then, after Wagpos had lost their own throw in the line-out, he made the break and underhand pass to send Okkie Janse van Rensburg over for the try. Again Du Preez converted. 14-0 after 14  minutes.

At this stage the gold jerseys of Brits dominated Wagpos and gave them no look-in. But the very first time they got a look-in Wagpos scored.

From a scrum they went left and flyhalf Armand van Niekerk ran at the defence before sending left wing Arran de Wet running for the line. He just managed to squeeze over in the corner. Van Niekerk converted brilliantly into the wind. 14-7 after 16 minutes.

Brits struck back before half-time when from a five-metre scrum they played 8-9-14, and brilliant scrumhalf Heinrich Uckermann squeezed a pass to right wing Bennie Janse van Rensburg who was strong enough to get over in the corner.

That made the score 19-7 at half-time.

With the wind in the second half, Wagpos did better but mistakes hampered their play – losing line-outs, not kicking penalties into touch (four times in the match) and giving away too many penalties themselves, 12 altogether in the match.

In fact there was no score in the half till Du Preez produced the second twin with five minutes to go. The bounce was sharper this time but Venter caught it and scored.

There was still time to score one more try as the Brits pack went on a pick-'n-drive which ended when hooker André Oschman got the ball onto the line. Jacques Venter kicked the conversion to end the match.

For the preview of the match with links to the captains and the schools, click here.

Scorers:

For Brits:
Tries: Jacques Venter 2, Okkie Janse van Rensburg, Bennie Janse van Rensburg, André Oschman
Cons: Hannes du Preez 2, Jacques Venter

For Wagpos:
Try: Arran de Wet
Con: Armand van Niekerk

Teams:

Hoërskool Brits: 15 Okkie Janse van Rensburg, 14 Bennie Janse van Rensburg, 13 Jan-Harm Burger, 12 Pierre Diedericks, 11 Jacques Venter, 10 Hannes du Preez, 9 Heinrich Uckermann, 8 Johnnie Joyce, 7 Nico Barkhuizen, 6 Dean Jansen, 5 JJ de Jager, 4 JP Mostert,  3 Phillip Coetzer, 2 André Oschman, 1 Rickus Theron.
Replacements: 16 Piet Swart, 17 Kobus Powell, 18 Josef Langerman, 19 Evert Swart, 20 Stephan de Kock, 21 Hien Bezuidenhout, 22 Jaco Terblanche, 23 Bart Botes.

Coaches: Daan Fourie, Gene Benadie

Hoërskool Wagpos: 15 Riaan Crause, 14 Attie Stander, 13 Riaan Williams, 12 Barend Pretorius, 11 Arran de Wet, 10 Armand van Niekerk, 9 Stefan van Wyk, 8 Cornel du Plessis (captain), 7 Pieter van der Merwe, 6 Vincent de Wet, 5 Rhyno Snyman, 4 Ryno Glas,  3 Jan Scheepers, 2 Jandré Botes, 1 Richard Grimbeek.
Replacements: 16 Luan van der Bank, 17 Rugen de Beer, 18 JP van der Merwe, 19 Faantjie du Preez, 20 Tiensie Pretorius, 21 Heinrich Jansen, 22 Lionel Smit

Coaches: Henri Bayman, Gerald Marks

Referee: Christo Johns (Blue Bulls)