Brumbies turn 17 with a win
The Grahamstown Oval was the venue for a day of rugby as the Brumbies Rugby Club celebrated their 17th anniversary on a pleasant, cloudy Saturday afternoon.
The day kicked off with two U13 matches where Grahamstown Primary School went down 12-0 to Ntaba Maria, before Grahamstown Invitational were undone 24-7 by St Mary's.
In the day’s third game the first of the club rugby sides took to the field as the Brumbies Second XV went toe-totoe with Old Collegians. In a bruising encounter that was certainly not short of some good old-fashioned running rugby, Old Collegians eventually prevailed 18-5.
Great performances by both sides, played in the true spirit of the game, allowed for marvellous viewing.
Old Collegians weren’t done yet however as, after Rhodes pulled out of their scheduled game against Wanderers at the last-minute, the Collegians showed great rugby “gees” by offering to take their place, and play a second consecutive fixture, after a 40-minute break.
The sides took to the field in the midday heat, and it was Old Collegians again who came out on top, winning by a landslide 40-0. Swallows proceeded to down Evergreens Invitational 14-7, before the penultimate fixture ended with a Grahamstown Invitational 15-12 win over Trying Stars.
The game of the day featured the Brumbies First XV vs Evergreens First XV and certainly lived up to its billing with the hosts running away with it 59-15.
President of the Brumbies Rugby Club, Giuliano Flotman, reflected on a special day for local Grahamstown rugby.
“Our primary role is to keep the kids [of the greater Grahamstown community] off the streets and away from drugs,” he said. “This celebration is a way of giving back to the community, to say to all of the lo- cal clubs ‘Come, let’s have one fun day for the community as a whole’.”
He was particularly pleased by the crowd sizes.
“We’re expecting a big crowd, potentially thousands – people are even getting out of work early to see the game. Evergreen are from Cradock, we always support them during the year, and this is a way to encourage them to come back and support Grahamstown rugby in the near future.”
Despite the results of the respective fixtures, it was certainly the sport of rugby that triumphed on the day, in what was an incredibly successful day for sport in the wider Grahamstown community.