Huis Armentum the best in the land

Shimlas’ Huis Armentum are the best hostel rugby team in South Africa. This came after a convincing 30-16 win over Dromedaris (UJ) in the 2009 Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Championships Final in Stellenbosch on Monday.

Armentum fully deserved their win – and the title of the best koshuis team in South Africa – but the unbeaten Free Staters did not play the best rugby they are capable and, in fact, were down 10-16 at half-time.

But, again, it was a final and teams play to win in matches like these – no matter how ugly it may be…

Armentum built an early 10-0 lead through tries by centre Morkel Hoffmann and wing Gareth Lourens. The one by Hoffman, especially, was a fine score; he regathered his perfectly-weighted chip-kick and dotted down half-a-metre short of the deadball line.

Both conversions from wide out were missed by Inus Kritzinger – who did not enjoy a good evening with the boot – he missed another three kicks at goal afterwards.

Those two tries seemed to wake Dromedaris up and they started dominating position and, in particular, territory, as Armentum were forced to defend one attack after the other.

Although Armentum refused Dromedaris to bridge their defence, they did concede three penalties – with Hamlet Janse van Rensburg kicking all to reduce the deficit to one point – 9-10.

And then right on the stroke of half-time, the Men from Johannesburg took the lead for the first (and last) time in the match when livewire scrumhalf Matilda Jacobsz dived over after a series of attacks from ‘Drom’.

Oddly, Armentum struggled in the scrums in the first half, but things went better after the break and hooker Toffie van Tonder also started to find his lineout jumpers – unlike in the first half when he struggled to hit his targets.

Armentum eventually hit back through a fine try by fullback Kobus Neethling after an 8-9-15 move – reminiscent the Sharks of the mid-1990s.

Loosehead prop Cobus Greeff scored a few minutes later, and at 25-16 Armentum looked pretty comfortable. Nevertheless they were not finished yet and Greeff – once more – played a key role in Neethling’s second and Armentum’s fifth (and final) try.

Greeff kicked an ideal grubber kick through for Neethling to chase and his score sealed the match.

For Armentum, the Player that Rocks, No.8 Johnny Schoeman, was richly rewarded for his consistently good performances this season. Myburgh, at the back, was solid.

For the losing finalists, fullback Moomin Petla had a few outstanding line breaks, but he lacked the necessary support to really make a big enough impact.

Fellow joy for the Kovsies was the news that their Miss Varsity Cup, Het-Mari Roode, was crowned as first princess in the Miss Varsity Cup competition!

The scorers:

For Armentum:
Tries: Hoffmann, Lourens, Neethling 2, Greeff
Con: Kritzinger
Pen: Kritzinger

For Dromedaris:
Tries: Jacobsz
Con: Janse van Rensburg
Pens: Janse van Rensburg 3

The teams:

Huis Armentum: 15 Kobus Neethling, 14 Michael Bosch, 13 Morkel Hoffmann, 12 Jannie Myburgh, 11 Gareth Lourens, 10 Inus Kritzinger, 9 Enrico Schultz, 8 Johnny Schoeman, 7 Dedrik Pretorius (captain), 6 Niekie Potgieter, 5 Joubert Horn, 4 Michiel de Wet, 3 Ian Potgieter, 2 Toffie van Tonder, 1 Cobus Greeff.
Replacements: 16 Herman van der Watt, 17 Chris Mans, 18 Thys-Koch Burden, 19 Mynhardt van der Walt, 20 Pieter van Zyl, 21 Janneman Kotzé, 22 JP van der Berg.

Dromedaris: 15 Moomin Petla, 14 Conzales Mecuur, 13 Hamlet Janse van Rensburg, 12 Rinkhals Zulu, 11 Koekie Kock, 10 Zulu Parkinson, 9 Matilda Jacobsz, 8 Babaganoosh Ellis, 7 Breekskade Swanepoel, 6 Speenvark Coleman, 5 Bokmakierie Keiser, 4 Plooibekkie Erasmus, 3 G-Spot Bredenkamp, 2 Duracell Claasen, 1 Klits Nel.
Replacements: 16 Baracuda Kampherbeek, 17 Tollie Platt, 18 Snoetvark Buxman, 19 Inkvis Slabber, 20 Puma Fali, 21 Remskoen Daniel, 22 Jaws Lombaard.

Referee: Quinton Immelman

By Ruan Bruwer