Huge shock as Armentum go down
Heimat recorded a somewhat unexpected win over Armentum in a Kovsie Steinhoff Koshuis league match on Friday night.
Heimat thumped Armentum, the Steinhoff Koshuisrugby champions, 10-6 in a closely-contested fixture that was decided only two minutes from full-time when Heimat right-wing Daniël Krynauw scored the winning try.
The winning team played the first half with a strong (and very cold) south wind behind their back and used it effectively to dominate territory.
Mindus Crous (left-wing) opened Heimat's account midway through the first half when he kicked an easy penalty which turned out to be the only points of the first half.
Although there were lots of penalties throughout the match, few of them were within kicking distance. This unusually high amount of penalties were the result of a tough contest where winning was the only option. There's always been a huge rival between these two teams and this was very evident on the night.
Although Heimat are a new team in the league, they still play in the same jerseys as Reitz (the hostel that closed last year) and half-a-dozen of last year's Reitz team are playing for Heimat in 2009.
The wind, meanwhile, also made handling difficult on the night as was seen in a few promising moves that went astray.
Although Armentum managed to break through the first line of defence a few times, they simply were unable to finish off - and credit to Heimat's cover defence.
Jannie Myburgh, Armentum's flyhalf, levelled matters shortly after the interval with a penalty kick - making it 3-3.
And with about ten minutes remaining, Myburgh seamed the have won the match for Armentum with a long distance penalty kick at goal for a 6-3 lead.
But through some good handling and continuity on attack, Heimat finished with the match-winning try for their first win in the competition - and what a win it was!
Points-scorers: Heimat 10 (3), Armentum 6 (0). HEIMAT - Try: Daniël Krynauw. Conversion: Mindus Crous. Penalty: Crous. ARMENTUM - Penalties: Jannie Myburgh 2.
JBM Hertzog continued on the winning ways with a comfortable 17-3 win over a valiant Veritas team.
JBM always seemed in control although only one try was scored - in the first half by their eighthman Roelof Joubert who scored all his side's points, contributing another four penalties.
Points-scorers: JBM 17 (11) Veritas 3 (3). JBM - Try: Roelof Joubert. Penalties: Joubert 4. VERITAS - Penalty: Henk Harmse.
The university's Under-19 team, that play only in the first round of the competition, had too much in the tank on Saturday morning; getting the better of Karee.
This was Karee's first match in the league. The Under-19's points don't count on the log, but hostel teams that earn log points against them, can 'keep' those points.
On Saturday the youngsters dominated affairs in the scrums and even though Karee enjoyed territorial advantage, they couldn't get over the Under-19s tryline.
The winning team, on the other hand, used its opportunities and scored twice in the first half.
The second half was pretty much one way traffic for the Under-19s, adding another five tries to their tally for a comfortable win.
Points-scorers: UFS Under-19 41 (12), Karee 8 (3). UFS U19 - Tries: Nico Scheepers 2, Jumba Ulenga 2, Zandré de Bruin, Leroy Abrahams, Jannie van der Berg. Conversions: Erik Colyn 3. KAREE - Try: Frans Smit. Penalty: Jaco Caarstens.
Standings:
(Under played, won, points)
1. JBM 2, 2, 8
2. Armentum 2, 1, 5
3. Heimat 2, 1, 4
4. Vishuis 1, 0, 1
5. Veritas 2, 0, 1
6. Karee 1, 0, 0
By Ruan Bruwer