Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
The sky’s not the limit for Durbell
Unfancied Cape team kick off club rugby season with Community Cup triumph Durbell squad
VENI, VIDI, VINCI… “We Came, We Saw, We Conquered.”
Words uttered by Roman Emperor Julius Caesar in 46 BC.
The famous quote, often used out of context, on this occasion can rightfully be adopted by new Community Cup champions Durbanville/Bellville, after the Cape side stunned friend and foe by beating title- holders Rustenburg Impala 31-30 on their home field on Monday afternoon to win the Gold Cup.
“One should be very careful to take famous quotes out of history and use them for the sake of making a point,” said Durbell captain Alconray Botha in his club’s newsletter.
“But I feel we can use them to describe our campaign. Truth be told, this team was and is a motivated, welldrilled, skilled bunch of rugby players. An all-heart set of performances got us home at the end.
“We had players on the field with injuries but that just lifted our intensity and I’m just really proud of all the boys for taking and delivering massive hits against the more ‘favoured’ opponents.”
“Special thanks to our senior club management, they did a fantastic job,” added Botha.
“First off Durbell Rugby Club would not exist as we know it without Carel Steenkamp ( club chairman) and Robert Wallander (vicechairman), more affectionately known as ‘Wally’.
“These gents have the unenviable job of running the club , making sure the finances, engaging with sponsors , entertaining all of our gripes and ensuring that the fields are in the supreme condition that they are.”
Durbies are now basking in the accolades they so richly deserved.
In front of a hostile crowd on Monday, the Cape side took to the field with hopes of a victory lingering in the back of their minds, few giving them a snowball’s chance in hell of upstaging the holders.
Today, five days after their historic feat, it’s time for reflection on the magnitude of their success.
To beat three title-winning teams en route to their first piece of silverware for the season makes the achievement that much more memorable.
They first took out College Rovers of Durban on day one of the five-day knockout tournament to reach the semi-finals, then downed Despatch (a proud rugby town near Port Elizabeth) before ending Impala’s reign.
Like Natal’s maiden Currie Cup triumph in 1990 over Northern Transvaal, it was a fairytale ending against the odds for Durbell.
Winning coach Jan Loubser, also voted Coach of the Tournament, said his side had summoned energy from the matchday quote: “If you thought the sky was the limit, you have limited yourself.”
Words of inspiration they proved to be for the Durbell men, who have now scaled a height never achieved before in this competition – their best results in past seasons never ensuring them entry to the lasteight knockout phases.
The smallest pack among the eight that competed, and a talented, eager-to-run-it set of backs, combined to seal a famous victory and a momentous occasion for the club, that now stands tall among the other 900 registered clubs in the country.
Praise all- round, too, for them, with Rovers, who missed out on a podium finish by several places, giving their coastal rivals a pat on the back and conceding they have a lot of work to do to bridge the gap in class that continues to shift up a gear at this level of the game.
It remains to be seen whether Durbies will have to pre-qualify for the fourth edition of the Communty Cup next year.
If not, will they be chosen as the host venue? That’s all up in the air now as the organisers have yet to get together to discuss such matters.
How the Capetonians went about going all the way centred on good old-fashioned teamwork. Fire, fire, fire – code words to launch defensive strikes when contesting for the ball summed up the courage of the pack, while the back seven showed pace and guile to get the better of their opposite numbers.
No individual stars to call on in squad parlance, just blokes who play the game for the love of it – all of them were back at work this week.
Two of them, however, will be operated on in the next two weeks. Marius White (broken hand) and Douw Wessels (torn hand ligament) showed tremendous heart and courage by playing through the last two games with these injuries.
Sure, they’ve got players within their ranks like Garth April (voted Young Player of the Tournament – he scored a try and 15 points in total in the final) who want to play at a higher level with some having done so. But for the majority, nothing beats being part of a collective that pulls in the same direction.
The club is at the forefront of developing the game at grassroots level through their youth programme Masibambane, so it’s pleasing to see the likes of Angus Cleophas and Roderick Moses from Morning Star and Fisantekraal coming through the ranks – under the watchful eye of head coach Bobby Joubert – to senior duty.
So what does it feel like to be the team of the moment?
“It feels great,” said Loubser. “Nothing comes easy in life, that’s for sure. We’ve worked extremely hard as a unit for months to get where we’ve got to.
“So now the boys can let their hair down a bit.”
“It is important that the achievement be savoured by all concerned,” added Loubser, who with his support staff have done an outstanding job.
“A moment of history has to be celebrated to its fullest, then left for the memory bank as the search for more success takes over.”
Maybe a unique season double is in the offing for Loubser’s charges; the Western Province Super League A competition is just around the corner.
Durbell came close to breaking their duck in 2012, with only an inferior points difference to eventual winners Maties denying them – and they only lost one of 18 games in that campaign.