Rebound Rovers blitz Varsity, Collegians bury Crusaders
JONSSON College Rovers responded to last weekend’s loss in emphatic fashion as they thrashed FNB UKZN Maritzburg 80-0 in the Fidelity Security Moor Cup on Friday night.
The Durban side lost their first club rugby league match in three years when they were edged out by local rivals Acer Durban Collegians last weekend, but they were back to their imperious best against Varsity.
Having clearly been given a bit of a wake-up call by Collegians, Rovers reasserted their authority on the Premier Division with a near faultless performance, scoring 12 tries and keeping the visitors from the capital scoreless.
The competition’s leading tryscorer, Jors Dannhauser, scored a noteworthy five tries, while flank Kelvin Adam secured a brace.
Rovers set the tone from the outset as they cruised into an unassailable lead early on, enjoying a 45-0 advantage at half-time before showing no mercy with a clinical performance in the second stanza.
Varsity have certainly been no pushovers this season, and came into the fixture occupying fourth place on the log, so Rovers would certainly have been encouraged by the manner in which they bounced back.
The handful of log points secured ensures that they still hold a five-point lead at the top of the log heading into the upcoming match against second- placed Varsity College Old Boys.
It will certainly be a game worth watching as Oldies have come into some good form of late and secured their seventh win of the season when they beat Thanda Zululand Rhinos 40-3 in Durban North yesterday afternoon.
The bonus-point win keeps Old Boys bearing down on Rovers, with these two set to clash after next weekend’s bye, and there is no doubt it’s shaping up to be one of the encounters of the season.
If Old Boys are to come out on top, though, they will know that they need to produce a full 80-minute performance, as they’ve tended to start slowly this season.
Drubbing
That was once again the case against Rhinos, but in the end tries to Rowan Howse, Troy Chicotti, Reef Nakin, Steven Moir, Brian Shabanga and Christopher Nqubuli carried them to victory.
At KP 10, another one-sided match saw Collegians dish out a 95-0 drubbing of struggling Telnet Crusaders.
Winger Quinton Dormehl scored a hat-trick of tries, while Sharks XV star Gouws Prinsloo tallied a total of 24 points.
In the final fixture, Dewald Claassens kicked a match-winning penalty to hand Bluff SuperSpar Harlequins a thrilling 20-18 win over Ricoh Maritzburg Collegians out on the Bluff.