Weltevrede win wet thriller
There was a lot of excitement at wet Boland Stadium on Saturday when Weltevrede came from behind to beat neighbourly rivals Bergrivier 11-6 in the FNB Classic Clash.
The field was wet and heavy from the rain during the week and that was made worse by the rain that fell in the second half when only a single – penalty goal was scored.
In the first half it seemed that the Zebras would win. Angelo Lack ay kicked two penalty goals to give them a 6-0 lead. Then they drove a line-out maul a long way down field before going left. Jadyn Maerman went for the corner but he was forced out by a brilliant tackling by Dylon Kok and Ashwill Willemse.
Instead it was Weltevrede who got the when burly prop Mervin Fortuin forced his way over. Fortuin had played in the big 2012 defeat. The conversion went astray but flyhalf Jonathan Joseph's made amends when kicked a penalty to make the half-time score 8-6 in favour of Weltevrede.
Joseph's kicked a second penalty to take the score to 11-6 and the rain came down.
The rain had stopped when Bergrivier launched a sharp attack. They went right where they had an overlap of two but flank Lehandro Ruiters opted to go for the line himself. He squeezed between two players as Willemse flew into him and right on the line he lost the ball forward.
And then Roslyn Fortuin blew her whistle to indicate the end of the game and a jumping outburst of glee by the Weltevrede players.
The last time Weltevrede won was 10-8 in 2010. Bergrivier won the next two – 23-10 in 2011 and 35-15 in 2012.
Tames
Bergrivier 15 Emile Jacobs, 14 Elton Kruger, 13 Hugh-Reece Claasen, 12 Justin Willemse, 11 Jaydin Maerman, 10 Jaydin Snyders, 9 Angelo Lakay, 8 Laurence Petersen, 7 Denvor Cloete, 6 Lehandro Ruiters, 5 Ashwin Franse, 4 Keagan Benjamin, 3 Lance Korabie, 2 El-Shaun Davids (captain), 1 Jandré Manuel
Replacements: 16 Izle Maurice, 17 José Moses, 18 Aldridge Marthinus, 19 Donovan Slingers, 20 Keaton Engeldoe, 21 Wailerk Joseph, 22 Johnwen Lewis
Weltevrede: 15 Dilon Kok, 14 Dean Adams, 13 Emile de Beer, 12 Rial Bonn, 11 Grant Pietersen, 10 Jonathan Joseph, 9 Shane Booysen, 8 Jevin Cato, 7 Allistar Africa, 6 Keano Morkel, 5 Duran Bastiaan, 4 Ashwill Willemse, 3 Mervin Fortuin, 2 Denzill Demas, 1 Marshall Africa
Replacements: 16 Marvin du Toit, 17 Marco Lambrecht, 18 Roswill van Rooi, 19 Abrey Jacobs, 20 Jaylon Abrahams, 21 Leehyno Titus, 22 Brandall Titus
Referee: Roslyn Fortuin (Boland Referees' Society)
