AFTER trailing 15-27 at halftime, the Grahamstown Brumbies Rugby Club showed tremendous character, composure and fighting spirit in the second half by beating Uitenhage Rugby Club 38-27 in their Eastern Province Adams Cup fixture match.
AFTER trailing 15-27 at halftime, the Grahamstown Brumbies Rugby Club showed tremendous character, composure and fighting spirit in the second half by beating Uitenhage Rugby Club 38-27 in their Eastern Province Adams Cup fixture match.
Played in front of a large local crowd in Uitenhage on Saturday, the game was a fast-paced, physical and hard encounter with the big forwards of the home side using their weight and height to great advantage.
The Brumbies opened the scoring in the third minute of the match through winger Joe Mqubuli after a great line break by his bigger brother and full back Chris Mqubuli for captain and flyhalf Vincent Mains to convert to take an early 7-0 lead.
Minutes later, the visitors attacked from inside their half, but the move was well received by centre Bertram Prince who intercepted the ball to score a 45 metre try.
The kick was unsuccessful and Brumbies lead 12-0 with just five minutes into the match. The Brumbies exerted the pressure on the home side with wave after wave of attacks which resulted in a penalty that was successfully converted by Mains, as Brumbies lead 15-0 with fifteen minutes to go.
The home side launched a huge comeback playing a forwards game and turned out to be a good tactic, scoring 27 unanswered points to take a 27-15 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Uitenhage side began to believe the game was already won and in the bag for them. But, the Brumbies focused mainly on the game and took full advantage of the oppositions tactics, with Mains slotting a penalty early in the second half, before lock Monray Evans scored after a turnover by Brumbies to take the score to 23-27 to Uitenhage.
The Brumbies continued to attack with ball in hand with good interplay between the forwards and backs and once again Evans scored his second try of the match for Mains to convert and for Brumbies to once again take the lead 30-27, with fifteen minutes to go.
Minutes later, a good line break by inside centre Lucius Jordaan set up a fine try by winger, Norman Denston to score.
With five minutes to go, Mains slotted a 40 metre drop goal after the forwards set up a ruck from an attack to put the nail in the coffin which earned Brumbies a well executed 38-27 victory.
The Brumbies 1st reserves also recorded a huge win, while the seconds lost narrowly. “The guys showed great character and composure to come back from twelve points behind to snatch victory from the noses of the home side, although they tried to play a dirty and destructive game in the second half, we stuck to our game plan which worked in the end for us,” said team manager Guilliano Flotman.
