Warm Rugby in Cold and Rain

Monnas scored first and last, and won 37-7, scoring seven tries to one.

It was cold – a maximum of 11°C with a minimum of 10°C. And the rain poured down onto the Ras van Rooyen Field at Hoërskool Monument, and as the match went on the puddles of standing water grew. This did not stop a crowd to pack around the field as two great schoolboy sides came to play.

They are two excellent sides, both of whom prefer to run with the ball – tough opponents but also creative ones. Here they were in Krugersdorp with its unseasonable weather, but they did not panic of jettison their principle. No, they still ran with the ball. In fact they seemed to ignore the weather as Monnas' white jerseys changed to dirty grey and the Klofies' white shorts became just a smudge.

Later in the match, when substitutes came on, their whiteness was dazzling – a great advertisement for washing powder!

The weather did, it seems, affect the goal-kicking. Monnas scored seven tries and converted only one – and that in haste by a forward.

Monnas scored first and early. Klofies  kicked a "taken back" ball directly into touch and from the line-out Monnas attacked. They went wide and when the pass came back inside to PJ Botha he burst through three defenders to score. 5-0 after 3 minutes.

It was interesting – and oldfashioned – to see tries scored without hugging and slapping! There was more fuss made of Reyno Potgieter when he chased a rolling ball and knocked on in an impossible attempt to scoop it up. Then there were gestures of sympathy and encouragement.

But Klofies took the league. A poor clearing kick hit centre Ruan Allers and rebounded into empty space behind Monnas. Allers footed it on to the posts where Allers went for the ball and was nudged by a defender behind him. The referee awarded a penalty try to Klofies. Fullback Duhann Gunter converted and Klofies led 7-0 after 13 minutes.

Monnas got the lead back 7 minutes later when they took a tighthead at a scrum and scrumhalf Tinus Combrinck scored.

Handling was not easy, but the two teams kept running. PJ Krugell had a long run down the left wing and Monnas tapped a penalty and ran. From near their line they set left wing Jonathan Rabie free and the sturdy wing raced down the left touchline outrunning two defenders. When he was ankletapped he surfed over for the try in the left corner after a run of 70 metres. 15-7 after 31 minutes, the half-time score.

Luke Rossouw, the Monnas' flyhalf, broke down the left. Hemmed in he lobbed a pass inside and flank Kevin le Roux scored. 20-7 after 37 minutes.

Krugell charged down a clearing kick and footed ahead into the Monnas' in-goal but Rossouw just beat him to the ball.

Burly centre MJ Pelser set his side attacking, flipping an underarm pass to Jonathan Rabie. Just short of the cornerflag, Allers tackled Rabie into touch. Monnas won the line-out and bashed Klofies were penalised, Combrinck tapped and gave to the massed Monnas forwards who mauled over the line for a try scored by PJ Jacobs. 25-7 after 43 minutes.

Monnas went through the customary sequence – penalty, five-metre line-out, maul and try, scored by PJ Jacobs. There was confusion about who was to take the conversion till the referee warned Monnas that time was nearly up. Jacobs placed the ball in haste, rushed up and kicked the only successful conversion for his side. 32-7 after 58 minutes.

Monnas won a tighthead at a scrum and substitute flyhalf JP van Rensburg chipped a delicate ball over the Klofies' defence. Pelser ran onto it, the ball stood up benignly and Pelser scored with a swanky dive. 37-7 with just four minutes left.

Scorers:

For Monument:

Tries: PJ Botha 2, Tinus Combrink, Jonathan Rabie, Kevin le Roux, PJ Jacobs, MJ Pelser

Con: PJ Jacobs

For Waterkloof:

Try: Ruan Allers

Con: Duhann Gunter

1st XVs

Monument: 15 Louwtjie Dyson, 14 Karel Vahrmeijer, 13 Reyno Potgieter, 12 MJ Pelser, 11 Jonathan Rabie, 10 Luke Rossouw, 9 Tinus Combrinck, 8 PJ Jacobs, 7 Cristen van Niekerk, 6 Kevin le Roux, 5 Christopher Havenga, 4 Jandre Botha, 3 Dewald Schoeman, 2 PJ Botha, 1 Nathan McBeth

Replacements: 16 Jano Lourens, 17 Coenrad Vrey, 18 Christoff Mulder, 19 Juandré Judeel, 20 Cameron Schutzler, 21 JP van Rensburg, 22 Arno van der Westhuizen, 23 Marnus Herbst

Coaches: Hans Coetzee, Peter Schutte

Waterkloof: 15 Duhann Gunter, 14 Renaldo Dorfling, 13 Lund Roos, 12 Ruan Allers, 11 PJ Krugell, 10 Ulrich Maritz, 9 Giovan Snyman, 8 Eduard Pretorius, 7 Ewan Visser, 6 Gustav de Jager, 5 Wian de Beer, 4 Dirk Blignaut, 3 Gerrit Visser, 2 Henro Conradie, 1 Frank Schumyn

Replacements: 16 Ruben Veldsman, 17 André Dippenaar, 18 Bradley McGeer, 19 Pierre van Loggerenberg, 20 Adriaan van Niekerk, 21 PJ Loubser, 22 Sean du Plooy, 23 Chandré Pretorius

Coaches: Jan Mollentze, Burger Lindeque, Jaco van Zyl

Referee: Richard Schwulst (Golden Lions Referees' Society)

Assistant referees: Peter du Toit (Golden Lions Referees' Society), Matt Snyman (Golden Lions Referees' Society)