Dromedaris put one over Monitor

The University of Johannesburg's Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Championships team, Dromedaris, started their 2009 campaign on a high with a 35-25 win over Monitor (TUT) at Coca-Cola Park on Saturday afternoon.

It ended up being a closely-contested high-scoring match between two big teams. It was a very physical and entertaining game, with Monitor's backline showing some impressive moves thanks to their speedy backs.

Monitor looked to be the dominant team in the beginning of the match with a quick try, conversion and a penalty goal to lead by 10-3 after just 10 minutes.

UJ had a good pack and dominated the lineouts, whilst TUT's fitness was an issue - mainly because of the month-long strike at their university, which meant they were not able to train much in the lead-up to this tournament.

The strike, which started when TUT opened its academic year a few weeks ago, continued until February 23. During this time the Minister of Education closed down the university and all students had to evacuate their residences. This caused a big problem for Monitor and left them with just a few students living close to the university that were able to attend practices.

Fitness issues aside, the handling of both teams came into question with both teams missing out on a large amount of points. There was, however, plenty of potential on show.

It is going to take dedicated players and a lot hard work for this Monitor side to get up to speed in the 2009 Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Championships.

But if one team can do it, this talented and determined Monitor squad can.

By Kobus Maartens