Local team give Crusaders a good run
In a pre-season warm-up fixture this month, Greater Knysna Rugby Club was able to upset Premier League giants Conville Crusaders, with a 19-year-old player scoring two tries.
Centre Bradley Kiewitz scored a brace (two tries) on Saturday as the Coastal League side gave the Eastern Cape team as much trouble as they could on their home soil.
According to a Greater Knysna RC spokesperson the game was allowed to be played over 95 minutes to give the host, the Crusaders, extra time to field more players as teams were allowed to use rolling subs and bigger squads. At the end of the 81 minutes though, Greater Knysna was in the lead with a 26-17 score.
While the Crusaders used a bigger squad of about 30 players for the fixture, Greater Knysna RC opted to only use 23.
At halftime Greater Knysna had a 21-17 lead.
With 81 minutes on the clock, the Crusaders scored four tries in the next 15 minutes. At the end of additional time it was the Crusaders who would walk away with a 43-26 win.
Crusaders technical advisor Dudley Jacobs said in a post-match statement that his team received exactly what they needed in this pre-season match-up, and thanked Greater Knysna for a great game.
Greater Knysna head coach Aschin Klein said he was satisfied with his side’s performance, “especially the defensive effort of the boys as it was our key focus during this fixture”.
He was also full of praise for the Crusaders, saying that all could see it was only their first game of the season, and that this team will become a force to be reckoned with once they “gel together”.
Greater Knysna’s next pre-season fixture will take place on 10 February in Knysna, and will see them face the Crusaders once more. The week after they will host the Jaguars from Craggs in Plettenberg Bay, and on 24 February they will be hosting the Argentinian Club Champs San Isidro Club. They will close out the pre-season with games against Evergreens, and two home and away fixtures against Sedgefield’s Eagle Stars. –