Border win through in style
THE Border women’s rugby team confirmed their place in the final of this year’s Interprovincial A division with a thumping away 41-14 away victory over KwaZulu-Natal at Growthpoint Kings Park in Durban over the weekend.
With still one round of pool matches to go before the final, Border became the first team to make sure of their place in the final as they continued their unbeaten run this season by securing their fourth victory on the trot.
Border have dominated this tournament over the last four years, winning the title on each occasion, while hosting every final and that looks like it will be the case once again.
“I am very, very happy that we have qualified for the final again,” said Border coach Mxolisi Kolonza.
“We want to make history now, this tournament has never been won five years in a row, so we really want to do it.
“The girls are looking forward to the final and want to host it in East London again. Most of these players were part of the team that won back in 2013, so they really want to make it five in a row.”
Their closest two challengers, Western Province and Eastern Province, trail Border by three and four points respectively.
However if Border were to lose their final pool game, only one of those teams could mathematically pass them on the log as they play each other in their final pool match.
But that seems a very unlikely scenario as Border face this year’s bottom feeders, Free State, in their final pool match at home in East London, and with Free State not having won a single game yet this season, suffering a number of heavy defeats against teams Border has already beaten, it should be a walk in the park for the hosts.
“It is really important that we win the last game, if Western Province win against EP and we lose against Free State they will host the final, so we are concentrating on that now,” said Kolonza.
“We will not take it lightly, I watched them play against the Blue Bulls and they have a number of good players, so we must give them respect and make sure we are at our best.
“I am quite confident that we will come away with a big win though.”
In the match against KZN, Border put in a big first half effort, running in five tries, before going off the boil a bit in the second half, but still managing to add three more tries, while KZN could only manage two tries over the game.
“I am happy with the win, but not entirely with the performance,” said Kolonza.
“The girls played really well in the first half, but then the intensity dropped in the second and KwaZulu-Natal came back well.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match and it was their solid defence that surprised us in the second half.”
Border will now get ready for their final pool match against Free State at the BCM stadium next week Saturday, where they will look to seal top spot on the log and a home final.