Oppierif, Bastion finish on a high
Wednesday night marked the end of the UJ Steinhoff Koshuis League's second round and Bastion again showed that they are the team to beat in this year's competition.
Bastion ran out comfortable winners against Afslaan to finish the league games unbeaten.
If you missed the first 20 minutes of the game you would have been forgiven if you thought Afslaan were winning the game, but they eventually had to give way to Bastion who ended up beating them by a rather convincing margin of 44-21.
Scrumhalf Phakamane Nxumane impressed for Afslaan, making tackle after tackle around the fringes. He was also the mastermind of almost every Afslaan attack and should be playing rugby at a higher level.
Also, according to Michael Dick, the university's Rugby Manager, Bastion's Pierre de Bruin must surely be considered by UJ head coach coach Hugo van As for next year's Varsity Cup.
"The guy plays outstanding rugby week after week and will definitely come close to the final UJ Steinhoff Barbarian side," he said.
In the other first division game played last night, Oppierif played structured rugby to beat Kanniedood 22-5 - after leading 8-0 at half-time. They were clinical in the set pieces and the forwards gave the backs good possession on the front foot.
It was a close contest on the ground though where both teams' loose forwards turned over a lot of possession. The Oppierif backs' rush defence put the guys from Kanniedood under a lot of pressure right from the start, and they scored two of their tries after Kanniedood spilt the ball.
For Kanniedood, Duane Volschenk again played his heart out and was rewarded with a spot in this weeks Barbarian team, while Oppierif lock Carl Devenier and wing Lereko Tsolane's names were also added to the squad.
In the only second division match of the night, Bastion defeated a very strong Rugby Factory side.
The UJ students will take a well deserved break when the university breaks for a week's recess from Friday, where after the semifinals of the UJ Steinhoff Koshuis League will take place on September 9.
Bastion automatically qualified for a spot in the final because they finished top of the log, which means 'Drom' and Afslaan will play for the other spot.
Bastion and Afslaan players dominated the Steinhoff Barbarian team of this week with these two team playing a typically hard and fast 'koshuisrugby' game last night.
The UJ Steinhoff Barbarians team - Week 10: 15 Simphiwe Mahenga, 14 Spanner Tabule (Afslaan), 13 Duane Volschenk (Kanniedood), 12 Rudolf Prinsloo (Factory), 11 Lereko Tsolane (Oppierif), 10 Lewies Fourie (Bastion), 9 Phakamane Nxumane (Afslaan), 8 Ignus Potgieter (Bastion), 7 Ewald van der Westhuizen (Bastion), 6 Ben van Heerden (Afslaan), 5 Carl Devenier (Oppierif), 4 Henco de Kock (all Bastion), 3 Nog Esterhuizen, 2 Francois Muller, 1 Pieter de Bruin.
Replacements: 16 Joe Els (Afslaan), 17 Andile Mdleleni (Afslaan), 18 Pieter Meyer (Factory), 19 Tiaart v/d Merwe (Bastion), 20 Marius Burger (Bastion), 21 Bertus Wessels (Kanniedood), 22 Marcus Modisyane (Bastion).
By Riaan Bam