by Dave Alexander | May 15, 2023 | Griquas, Rugby
Windhoek Draught Griquas At Home to Blue Bulls
Windhoek Draught Griquas entertained the visiting Blue Bulls at Windhoek Draught Park, Saturday 13 May 2023, in cold, overcast conditions.
The visitors got the match underway, playing with the wind in the first half. The home side were doing most of the defensive work, but did have two or three fair backline movements. However Bulls scrumhalf, Embrose Papier, gathered a loose ball and burst clear without a defender in sight. dotting down for Chri Smith to convert.. Griquas came back with a brilliant line movement involving Rosco Spekman who was brought down, after a virtual 100 meter dash,just 8 meter short of the tryline. But the hosts received a penalty in front of the posts halfway between the twenty two meter and tryline, easily converted by taking Lubabalo Dobela, the score to 7-3, to the visitors. Johan Grobbelaar, scored the Bulls second try, in the 30th minute before eighth man, Elrigh Louw, scored as the first half reached its conclusion with the Bulls 19-3 in front.at the halftime break.
Griquas will get the proceedings under way in the second half playing with the wind and hopefully things would improve for them in this half. Unfortunately not, as the Bulls score their bonus point try, thanks to a second try from Grobbelaar from. a lineout five meters in from the near side touchline, very well converted by Chris Smith, taking the score to 26-3. Griquas made a runaway comeback in the 5th minute of the second half with an intercept try, by Johan Mulder, the conversion sailing past the uprights, 26-8. Bulls were now running away with the game after their left wing, Marco Jansen van Vuuren, scored a try converted by Smith, score now 33-8. Centre Jay-Cee Nel was on hand to deliver the second try for the Griquas thanks to some fine interplay from the home team, the conversion sailed between the uprights, taking score to 33-15. Once again, Griquas are playing catchup rugby, but the Bull’s defence was holding out. However the hosts managed a pushover try, by Stephan Smit, with 4 minutes left in the game, the conversion by Ndobela going wide, score 33-20. The writing was on the wall when the visitors had the final say with a try by Simphiwe Matanzima under the posts,converted by Chris Smith, taking the final score 40-20.
POINT SCORERS
Windhoek Draught Griquas: Tries; Johan Mulder, Jay-Cee Nel and Stephan Smit, Conversion; Lubabalo Dobela. Penalty;: Lubabalo Dobela
Vodacom Bulls:Tries: Embrose Papier, Johan Grobbelaar (2), Elrigh Louw, Marco Jansen van Vuren and Simphiwe Matanzima. Conversions: Chris Smith (5)
by webmaster | Jan 11, 2022 | Rugby
Kimberley Rugby Club will be holding their Annual General Meeting on 13 January 2022 at Rugga Inn, Vleissentraal Park at 18.00. All welcome.
Kimberley Rugby Klub hou hulle Jaarvergadering te Rugga Inn, Vleissentraal Park om 18.00. Almal welkom.
by webmaster | Sep 1, 2021 | Rugby, School Rugby
Signs of rust was evident with both teams making a lot of basic errors during the game, given that neither team had played any matches, due to the extended covid lockdown.
AFTER missing out on the 2020 edition due to the coronavirus lockdown, this year’s Classic Clashes took place on Saturday at Pirates, home ground to Northern Cape High where they hosted long time rivals and opponents Diamantveld high.
Hockey matches were played at the Astro in Cassandra on Friday with the Girls Under-16 playing to a goalless draw nil-nil. The two first teams then faced each other, with Diamonds getting the better of their opposition, taking the spoils 3-nil.
Meanwhile, in the boys matches, the Under-16 boys followed the girls game, playing to a goalless draw, while in this case it was Northern Cape High who came out victorious 3-nil.
In the netball competition, Diamantveld showed their strength winning in all the age groups. Under-14A 28-7, Under-15A 33-7, Under-16A 11-5 and the first team 39-9.
In rugby matches, the results were:
Under-14A DHS 26-14 NCH
Under-15A DHS 25-12 NCH
Under-16A NCH 13-5 DHS
Under-19B DHS 35-5 NCH
In the first team fixture, it was the hosts who ran out victors, beating DHS 29-17.
picture by Dave Alexander
Although the visitors were tipped to beat the hosts with their much stronger forwards pack, they came short as Northerns team held them with their backline making up for the smaller pack of forwards.
Signs of rust was evident with both teams making a lot of basic errors during the game, given that neither team had played any matches, due to the extended covid lockdown.
But the hosts wanted the win, more even with their lighter pack of forwards, as their coach, Deon Carney said after the match. “We are happy with the result, but the main thing is that we set out to do what we wanted to do by matching them up front.
“We also started the game with a lot of aggression and intensity. We opened up the space for our backs and as I mentioned before the game we have a number of players who can produce something special, which they did. The boys stepped up and had a very good game, which we started very well, but finished it even better.
“There were one or two opportunities we missed but all in all we are very happy and we can send the matric boys off on a positive note for their last year of school”.
by Dave Alexander
On the other hand, a rather disappointed Diamantveld coach, Leon Karremaker was unhappy with his team’s inability to get one over their opponents.
“We didn’t keep the ball and we didn’t respect the possession we had. I think if we hadn’t made silly knocks and silly kicks then it would have been a different game.” he told the DFA.
“Our centres’ defence was shocked at Northern Cape’s inside centre, who was very good and is a big boy and very quick. We didn’t put pressure on him as we wanted to, so he had a lot of freedom to do as he wanted.
However, I think our scrums and our line-outs were pretty good, but our mauling was not really OK, as we were sucked in too easily, but I was happy that we won the ball now and again.
“But the main thing is if you don’t have the ball possession you are not going to win. That is what we worked on during the week that we can’t lose the ball, that we have to keep possession. We didn’t capitalise in our 22, we made silly knocks and silly errors that cost us.”
by webmaster | Sep 9, 2019 | Rugby
Tafel Lager Griquas downed By the Lions in Semi Final
Once again the Xerox Golden Lions had the better of Tafel Lager Griquas, on Saturday in the semi final of the Currie Cup Premier Division, winning by 34 points to 19. Halftime score was 21-13 to the hosts. The match was played at the Emirates Airline Park (Ellis Park).
An extremely bitter and disappointing blow for the Griqua supporters, as Griquas had done so well up to the last two matches, both against the Lions, where they lost their round robin encounter a week earlier, in Kimberley by a solitary point.
One Griqua support had this to say, after the game, “Despite a brave performance that ensured that the game was in the balance till 10 min before the end, too many handling mistakes and missed tackles ensured that the team played catch up rugby all match. The scrumming struggled and over elaboration at the lineouts meant that the ball got to the backline under pressure. It is difficult to be sure how much Brent’s resignation affected the performance today but the match was a disappointing end to a very good season.”
However one of the SuperSport commentators said that Griquas plans did not work out accordingly and also for the last two weeks did perform to their full potential and asked the question if it was because of Brent Janse van Rensbug’s announcement that he was leaving as head coach.
Conditioning and fitness coach, Jacques du Toit told the DFA, “We were hoping to get one back over the Lions after last week’s loss but it was not meant to be.”
Du Toit continued saying, “Despite the loss, we are proud of the guys and how hard they have worked this season. We have put systems in place that can only take Griquas forward. The hard work done this year will allow us to have a good 2020 season and in conclusion well done to the players on reaching the semi finals, maybe next year we can go one step further and bring home the trophy”.
Meanwhile, the Xerox Golden Lions produced a mature performance in their effort, booking their first final since 2015.
Led by an inspirational performance by the loose trio, in particular Hacjivah Dayimani the Lions were sublime both on attack and defence as they kept Griquas at bay and never allowed them to take the lead in the game, eventually winning comfortably in the end.
Marnus Schoeman and Cyle Brink played an equally impressive part while the young lock Ruben Schoeman’s workrate stood out on the day.
Everything Griquas seemed to throw at the Lions they simply had an answer for, and scored when it mattered most to control the game.
Griquas, however, battled in the scrums and lineouts, but also enjoy the majority of the territorial play, but were unable to convert this into points. Another SuperSport commentator mentioned that he thought that the psychological pressure on Griquas was that they have not played in a semi final since 1998, which is quite a long time ago.
Point Scorers
Xerox Golden Lions – Tries: Madosh Tambwe, Stean Pienaar, Hacjivah Dayimani, Marnus Schoeman. Conversions: Shaun Reynolds (4). Penalties: Reynolds (2).
Tafel Lager Griquas – Try: Chris Smit. Conversion: George Whitehead. Penalties: Whitehead (4).
In the other Semi final fixture between the Cheetahs and the Sharks in Bloemfontein, the home side cruised through 51-30 to host the final next Saturday.
by webmaster | Sep 9, 2019 | Rugby
Tafel Lager Griquas Head Coach
The Tafel Lager Griquas are happy to announce that they have promoted the Assistant Coach, Scott Mathie, to the position of Head Coach for the 2020 and 2021 seasons, to replace the outgoing Head Coach Brent Janse van Rensburg.
“We feel very fortunate to have a staff member within our current system that is good enough to take over the reins. After a very successful rebuild of our program during 2019, it was important for us to ensure that our squad is not exposed to another rebuild with more changes in 2020.” said Tafel Lager Griquas CEO Arni van Rooyen.
The Tafel Lager Griquas President, Jannie Louw, said that Scott was intimately involved in the successful 2019 season, is familiar with the foundation laid and all the systems that are currently in place.
“Scott has a very good understanding of the environment, has already built up relationships with all management members and players that will allow for continuity leading into next season, which we felt was important to ensure that the positive momentum made can be built on.” said Louw.
“I feel honoured and privileged to be entrusted with this responsibility. I am very thankful to Griquas for showing faith in my abilities to continue with the program. I want to thank Brent for all his hard work and the effort he put into this season, which allows us to build on the great foundation laid this year. Focusing on consistent improvement will be a fundamental aspect for me, which we will adopt daily leading into 2020.”
The Tafel Lager Griquas squad in 2020 will boast a lot of continuity that will also boast the signing of additional players who will further strengthen our squad. All other current staff members will remain in their various roles leading into 2020. This will result in a large amount of continuity amongst players and management members.
The knowledge that Scott has accrued from a 12 year professional rugby career and the lessons he learnt from coaching at all levels helped him develop into a deserved recipient of the Tafel Lager Griquas Head Coach role.
After leaving school Scott represented Tuks 1 where they won the Clubs Champs in 2003, and he also represented the SA u19 team that achieved 3rd place at the World cup.
He gathered a wealth of knowledge having previously played professional rugby for the Sharks and Bulls at Super rugby and Currie Cup level respectively, whereafter he represented Sale Sharks and Leeds Carnegie in the English Premiership, during which time he also obtained a BA in English and History, before ending his career at the EP Kings.
Scott spent his playing career under the supervision of many elite coaches including ex-Springbok coaches Heyneke Meyer and Dick Muir as well as current Hurricanes Head Coach John Plumtree and ex England international Neil Back. Under Alan Solomons, the current Director of Rugby at Worcester Warriors is where he spent his last two seasons back in South Africa at the EP Kings.
Scott soon thereafter felt his way into a career within coaching, previously assisting Janse van Rensburg at Varsity Cup level and at Grey High School. Thereafter, Scott joined the traditional boys’ school and alma mater, the Durban High School. Appointed as the Director of Rugby and 1st XV Head Coach, Scott oversaw a period of rapid transformation at the school seeing DHS consistently in the top 20 rugby schools during his time at DHS. Scott was also the Head coach the Sharks U16 Grant Khomo, U18 Academy Week and U17 Seven’s teams.
To add to his repertoire, he spent his evenings as assistant coach of the Durban Collegians, where he was able to develop his attack and backline repertoire with the club.
Scott was reacquainted with our outgoing Head Coach, Brent Janse Van Rensburg, when the Tafel Lager Griquas appointed him as the Assistance coach at the start of 2019. Responsible for the Attack and Backline play of the team, his growth under Van Rensburg has been immense, as our team went on to win the SuperSport Challenge Cup and qualify for the Semi-Finals of the Premier Division Currie Cup for the first time in 21 years.
There is no doubt Scott will look to build on the platform that has been laid in the Diamond City and with the sweat and grind of rebuilding a program with just a two-man coaching staff in 2019, he will have an inside knowledge of what it takes to ensure the continuity and success of the rugby program at Tafel Lager Park continues into 2020.
by webmaster | Aug 8, 2019 | Rugby
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