False Bay Rugby Football Club

The last two weeks have delivered some exciting and also some nervous results. 

False Bay teams delivered resounding victories over Belhar, with the notable exception of the First XV, who could count themselves lucky to win the match 24-21. 

The Second XV won 50-0 and the Thirds 24-15. The Under 20As smashed their opponents 50-14 and unfortunately the Bs were on the receiving end of a big score against UCT, who have incredible depth.

With the Varsity Cup Champions looming, this was not the ideal confidence- booster.

The UCT Day delivered some amazing rugby and great results to boot.

FIFOs

The FIFOs earned the respect of all when against all odds they beat a confident Gardens Tech name, aka the Wolf Pack. Having scraped through to the knockouts, deservedly when talent and team spirit is considered, the FIFOs surprised the round robin winners with a 21-19 win, which sent them scrambling to the back room for off the field recourse.

The FIFOs, having made the semis, then had to face the powerful Durbell team at Durbanville, a huge task for most. They relented to a 0-36 loss, but the victory belonged to them as they progressed to this stage against all expectations.

THIRDS 

Kurt Botha deserves an enormous amount of credit and encouragement for what he has done with this squad. His team, after a very slow start to the season, are playing like a team, something which is extremely difficult when the fact that any club’s third team is a feeder team and susceptible to change every week.

Kurt and his nomadic helpers, Khwezi and Jonno, have melded this group of young players, each capable of playing higher up (indeed many have done so), into a team and also with the confidence to express themselves on the pitch knowing that there is support closely on their tails.

This last week the Thirds completed a resounding 40-5 thrashing of UCT. Remember that UCT have depth immeasurable and that the exciting brand of rugby for which they are renowned permeates through the ranks.

As usual, the regular names pop up on the radar when highlighting standout players. Yet again so many players stood out on Saturday, mentioning them would be unfair to the rest.

Kurt’s team now find themselves in a very respectable fifth position on the table and could contest for fourth come year end.

Well done Thirds.  

SECONDS 

The Bay Seconds continued their focused march to a showdown with Hamiltons for league honours with a hardfought yet deserved 17-11 victory over UCT on Saturday.

With their sights set on earning the silverware for Team of the Year from the season’s outset, this team has produced attractive, fast paced and attractive rugby throughout the season.

Credit must go to coaches Chris Hewetson and Brendell Brandt who have guided the squad in their quest. They now find themselves in second place on the table, eight points adrift of leaders Hamiltons, but with two games in hand. Two games offer a maximum of ten points, so the projection is very encouraging.

Ikeys were no pushover and indeed had the Bay stretched until a bit of Khwezi magic set up the result.

Outstanding players this last week were skipper Andrew Whiitaker, JT Kunneke, Kenny Afrika, Khwezi, Stefan Swanich and Darren Matthee. A special mention of Dasch Barber who played at loosehead and set the pitch alight.

UCT OVERCOME FALSE BAY 

At a cold, windy Groote Schuur, UCT hung on to beat a very focused and determined False Bay 27-17 on Saturday. The half time score was 14-7.

UCT remain the only team in the Super League A which False Bay have not beaten since their return to the top flight and but for a few lucky breaks, that record would almost certainly have tumbled on a bitterly cold campus ground.

The home club’s player depth was being tested as they had a number of first choice players missing, but far from an excuse, it should be taken that a club with the drawing power of Varsity Cup champions should have sufficient firepower to take on anyone in the league. Any Ikey player reading this report may be offended at the implication that he was a second choice and the way they started off the contest, showed a tremendous wealth of talent.

For the first half hour UCT were simply awesome. They threw the ball around with confidence, making nothing of the gale pumping down the pitch. Their big forwards drove powerfully, their lineouts were solid, and their backs ran mesmerising angles.

Within 10 minutes the home side had taken a 12-0 lead through tries by Thurlow Petersen and Richard Stewart, one of which was converted by Nicholas Holton.

The visiting support bolstered in numbers by their victorious Second and Third Teams, were stunned. The shivering as a result of the cold wind hid the nervous tension at the prospect of a 50 point drubbing, such was UCT’s dominance in the first half hour.

The Bay shook themselves awake and what followed was a 50 minute display of power rugby, balanced with clever play and attractive running. This was perhaps the best display of rugby by the Constantia boys this season yet and it was a travesty that they lost for reasons beyond their control.

With both sides endeavouring to run the ball in the wind, the best ploy, some exciting and certainly entertaining rugby was on offer. Rain may be a leveler in any match, but wind can be advantageous to the home side, especially if they practice day in and day out in those conditions. This showed in the passing of the Ikeys. Short passes with tolerance allowed for the wind, gave them an edge which until False Bay adapted, they enjoyed.

The entry of young Bay flyhalf, Liaan Scriven was probably the key to unlocking the Bay’s attacking potential on the wings. Scriven, big and fast, attacked the gainline, forcing defenders to commit and then offloading to support runners. When distributing he passed with sublime accuracy, be it long or short. Replacement centre Hyron Thyse fed wonderfully off him, complementing his skills with his own. Suddenly the men outside of the number 10 became a threat, with strong runners like Gafhoor Luckhan, Danie Roux, Marc Davids and Damien Janse van Rensburg causing havoc amongst the UCT defence.

Up front Whalied Heyns was a force, Graham Knoop simply outstanding and the two hookers, Hugo Lambrechts and JP Koster sharing demolition roles. Fetcher Thabani Sangweni was as usual an ever-present threat to any tackled ball possession. Replacement prop SP Blakely made a huge impact when he entered the fray.

False Bay drew level through tries by Hugo Lambrecht and standout player of the season (and of course on this day) Ridhaa Damon and late in the second half, a strong run in for a try by Danie Roux.

False Bay with about 15 minutes to go was set for a surprise victory as they started to overwhelm their opponents. The match was tense and entertaining and UCT delivered their side of the deal. Lock Donovan Armand, and loose forwards Zandy MacDonald and Gregory Mallett stood out with their power play. At the back flyhalf Nicholas Holton was authoritative and Thurlow Petersen a continuous threat.

With ten minutes to go UCT scored a try off possession that another official may have ruled illegal, the conversion plus another penalty, taking the score to 27-17 and the visitors gutted at a result which so easily could have been theirs.

UCT: Tries Thurlow Petersen, Richard Stewart, Donovan Armand and Nicholas Holton. Holton converted two.

False Bay: Tries Hugo Lambrechts, Ridhaa Damon and Danie Roux. Pieter Benade converted one.    

False Bay host Villager at Constantia in a derby. Kick off is at 4pm, with first matches starting a 1.30pm. All are welcome.