Brumbies end 2016 with Naval victory
On Wednesday 14 September, the Grahamstown Brumbies Rugby Club battled the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Navy rugby side at the Oval.
The match kicked off under lights with the local community coming out to support as they have done all season.
Brumbies managed to edge out a hard-fought 26-20 victory over the touring Cape Town based Navy side. The visitors, however, made it difficult for the Brumbies throughout the match.
The cool, dry conditions set up the perfect atmosphere for fast-paced, entertaining rugby, and both teams looked full of running throughout the match. The scoring opened early, with Navy earning a penalty in front of the posts, which was slotted in by Elvino Mouries.
Brumbies struck back quickly in the form of a driving maul try from Deon Crous, which was converted by Vincent Mains.
From there, the half opened as Navy-man Ruan Booysens crossed over after an interception on the Brumbies’ 22. Elvino Mouries converted and Navy regained the lead.
Both teams scored again in the first half, through JP Joseph of Navy, and Luciano Didloft of Brumbies, however Navy failed to convert, which meant that the half-time score sat at a narrow 14-15 in favour of the visitors.
Scoring opened up quickly in the second half, as Brumbies pivot, Vincent Mains, scored under the posts and converted, to take a 21-15 lead shortly after kick-off.
Navy responded with an entertaining long ranged try of their own through Luigi Grootboom, although once again, Elvino Mouries failed to convert, which meant Navy trailed by 21-20.
The remainder of the half was fairly uneventful, with the final word coming from Brumbies captain, Peter Frans late in the match with a try in the corner.
This try went unconverted, and the match ended shortly afterwards with the score Brumbies 26-20 Navy.
Brumbies finished off their long and tiring season, which started in February, with a win. They had recently come off of a narrow defeat in the final of a Cradock-based tournament, and had little time to prepare for the game, said on the day captain, Peter Frans.
Brumbies season begins again in March next year, as they missed qualification for the Grand Challenge cup by a single point at the end of this season’s competition.
Navy team, who are on a three-game tour from Cape Town, recently came off a 1715 victory over Swallows on Monday.
They will play their final tour game against the Rhodes Phoenix side on Friday at the Oval, and then return to Cape Town for training.