Westering’s second-half pressure too much for DF
WESTERING produced a telling second-half performance to outplay DF Malherbe 36-15 in their schools rugby fixture at Westering on Saturday.
Handling errors on both sides resulted in the first half being a tight affair and it took all of 21 minutes before the first points of the match were registered through the boot of DF centre Duncan Barendse.
Westering then replied with a debut first team try by flank Daniel Rowe, which was well-converted from far out in windy conditions by flyhalf Kamve Ntebe.
DF regained the lead with a try by Els, who also added the extra two points from the kicking tee.
But it was Westering who would lead 12-10 at the break when Siviwe Manyathi scored shortly before half time.
The home team went further ahead when Ntebe dummied beautifully before slipping a short pass to centre Siviwe Matlali, who broke through the flat-footed DF untouched to earn himself a wonderful score that Ntebe converted.
Sakhile Mbewu added another five-pointer for Westering but that was cancelled out by prop Werner Schaap’s try for DF on 57 minutes.
At 24-15, DF believed they still had a chance of an upset win.
Bizarrely, the referee blew the whistle 10 minutes early but after realising his mistake both coaches agreed to play out the remaining 10 minutes.
Westering used the opportunity to put the game to bed properly with centre Jared Caires dotting down before DF conceded a penalty try at the death.