Rhinos stampede to double victory
Mancosa Rhinos second team player Richard Mthembu breaks down the touchline with loads of support players on his inside shoulder against Jaguars at Mick Kelly Park on Saturday.
MANCOSA Rhinos followed up their 15-15 draw with Durban Mets last weekend with a solid 15-12 victory over Jaguars at Mick Kelly Park on Saturday afternoon.
The squad coached by Charles Mndaweni and Kobus Wernich rocked up to this game on a mission and clinched an early 15-0 lead going into half-time. Rhinos dominated possession for the first 40 minutes, only allowing Jaguars ball possession from handling errors.
They won tightheads, stole line-out ball and manufactured many turnovers, starving Jaguars of possession to work with.
Had it not been for the handling errors after stringing together a number of good phases, the half-time score would have been much higher.
Fanah Mthembu, Trevor Dlodlo and Zubenathi Sixonxo all crossed the whitewash for the home side.
A second half slump, however, allowed Jaguars back into the game, narrowing the score to 15-12.
A yellow card for Rhinos front row forward NK Mbatha made things more difficult.
Breakdown turnovers and running the ball out wide saw the Jaguars fighting back.
Rhinos missed a number of first time tackles and strangely discarded the structured play which put them in charge in the first half.
Second team
The second team posted a confidenceboosting 35-14 win by playing structured running rugby, keeping the ball alive and letting it do the work.
The backs ran onto the ball at pace and the forwards provided the frontfoot ball needed to exploit the Jaguars’ poor defensive structures.
They outscrummed and outmuscled their opposition up front, which provided numerous counter-attacking opportunities for the backline.
The Rhino teams travel to Westville tomorrow (Friday) evening for their next assignments.
Westville beat the Rhinos teams at home earlier this season and will utilise their home ground advantage.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7pm and 8.30pm.