Rovers off to winning start
College Rovers kicked off the inaugural Community Cup with an impressive win over Despatch, while there were also impressive wins for wild cards African Bombers, Raiders and Roses United on the opening weekend of the new 20-team national tournament.
Rovers were clinical in the opening match against Despatch at Kings Park 3, scoring four tries to two to grab a five-point haul ahead of their 2000km return journey to fellow Pool A opponents Sishen in Kathu next Saturday.
The Durban-based outfit, who in the process notched their 80th victory in 84 matches dating back four seasons, held a 13-3 lead at the break before pulling away in the second period with centre Sergio Torrens, replacement back Kyle Wilkinson and scrumhalf Tian Meyer dotting down to go with the try scored by flank Murray Bondesio in the first stanza. Fullback Jors Dannhauser weighed in with 15 points by way of three penalties and three conversions.
And in Zwide Stadium in Port Elizabeth, wild cards African Bombers caused the biggest upset of the weekend when two tries from fullback Xolela Payi and 19 points from the boot of mercurial flyhalf Masixole 'Coyi' Banda gave them a 35-22 win over Welkom Rovers.
There were also wins for the two other wild cards in action in Round One, Raiders running out 45-12 winners over Noordelikes in a Pool C encounter played in Polokwane, while in Wellington Roses United beat White River 65-36 in a thrilling encounter at Pelican Park.
The most dramatic result came in nearby Worcester, where Boland champions Villagers Worcester scored a try at the death to beat Griquas champions Sishen 24-20.
And in Pretoria, home side Police held out for a bonus point 35-26 victory against Durbanville-Bellville on the Loftus Versfeld B field.
Leading 27-7 at half-time thanks to a brace of tries from Ruan van Loo and one just before the break by Luka van Biljon the Bobbies seemed to be cruising to an easy win over the team they knocked out at the quarterfinal stage of last year's Club Championships.
But Durbell fought back in fine style with tries from Divan Batt and Raynor Becker immediately upon resumption to close the gap to six points.
Michael Nienaber dived over for the home side's fourth try but Jody Reynecke scored a brilliant individual try to reduce the deficit once again with 15 minutes left on the clock.
Flyhalf Dylan Laubscher slotted his third penalty for a tally of six out of seven for the day to stretch the advantage to nine points with only a few minutes remaining.
Despite a valiant effort from the Western Province club to secure a second losing bonus point, Police stopped the traffic to bag a full house of points and kick off their campaign in fine style.
Full Results, Round 1:
Pool A:
College Rovers 38-17 Despatch
The scorers:
For College Rovers:
Tries: Meyer, Torrens, Bondesio, Wilkinson
Cons: Dannhauser 3
Pens: Goosen, Dannhauser 3
For Despatch:
Tries: de Doncker, Dumond
Cons: Dumond 2
Pen: Dumond
Villagers Worcester 24-20 Sishen
The scorers:
For Villagers Worcester:
Tries: van Wyk, Africa, Malies
Cons: Fortune, Johnson 2
Pen: Johnson
For Sishen:
Tries: Peens, Cloete, Treurnicht
Con: le Roux
Pen: le Roux
Pool B:
Pretoria Police 35-26 Durbanville-Bellville
The scorers:
For Pretoria Police:
Tries: van Loo 2, van Biljon, Nienaber
Cons: Laubscher 3
Pens: Laubscher 3
For Durbanville-Bellville:
Tries: Keyser, Batt, Becker, Reyneke
Cons: Kotze 3
African Bombers 35-22 Welkom Rovers
The scorers:
For African Bombers:
Tries: Nqoro, Payi 2
Con: Banda
Pens: Banda 6
For Welkom Rovers:
Tries: Pretorius, Prinsloo, Aucamp
Cons: Strydom 2
Pen: Strydom.
Pool C:
Rustenburg Impala 24-13 Roodepoort
The scorers:
For Rustenburg Impala:
Tries: Wehr, Jordaan
Con: Olivier
Pens: Olivier 4
For Roodepoort:
Try: Geyer
Con: Oosthuizen
Pens: Griffiths 2
Noordelikes 12-45 Raiders
The scorers:
For Noordelikes:
Tries: Bye 2
Con: Byleveldt
For Raiders:
Tries: Hendrikz, Baloyi, Ntengo, Swart, Moodie
Cons: Davids 4
Pens: Davids 4
Pool D:
Roses United 65-36 White River
The scorers:
For Roses United:
Tries: Ruthford, Mumba 2, Julies, Samuels, Fortuin 2, Lawrence, Papier
Cons: Mumba 7
Pens: Mumba 2
For White River:
Tries: van Tonder, van Staden, Botha, Stoltz, Marneweck, Neethling
Cons: Van Tonder 3
Old Selbornian 8-15 Brakpan
The scorers:
For Old Selbornians:
Try: Booi
Pen: Warner
For Brakpan:
Tries: Botes, Booysen
Con: Horn
Pen: Niewenhuis
Fixtures, Round 2 – Saturday, February 23:
Match 9 – Sishen v College Rovers (Sivos Stadium, Kathu)
Match 10 – SK Walmers v Villagers Worcester (Green Point Track, Cape Town)
Match 11 – Durbanville-Bellville v African Bombers (Durbanville-Bellville Rugby Club, Cape Town)
Match 12 – Welkom Rovers v Bloemfontein Police (Rovers Rugby Club, Welkom)
Match 13 – Roodepoort v Noordelikes (Rand Leases Sports Grounds, Roodepoort)
Match 14 – Raiders v Bloemfontein Crusaders (Bill Jardine Stadium, Johannesburg)
Match 15 – Brakpan v Roses United (Bosman Stadium, Brakpan)
Match 16 – White River v Evergreens (White River Rugby Club, White River)