The Grahamstown Brumbies' bad luck continued after another defeat at the hands of East London Police in East London on Saturday.
The Grahamstown Brumbies' bad luck continued after another defeat at the hands of East London Police in East London on Saturday.
Brumbies lost 12-51 after trailing 7-22 at the break.
Brumbies, the only Grahamstown side competing in the Eastern Cape Super 12 competition, still need to register their first win after losing all their matches thus far.
Brumbies vs EL Police was the rematch from a game played on 26 January.
There the Brumbies beat them 12-10 – but an unofficial referee was blowing the game, so the organisers re-scheduled the match.
Last time the Brumbies U21s won their match 10-0 and – also playing a rematch – they were second-best this time, enduring a 31-6 defeat.
Brumbies found it difficult to compete against their bigger opponents, missing too many tackles and making too many forced errors, with the home side capitalising on the Brumbies mistakes throughout the game.
Brumbies, however, looked dangerous with their driving maul and their back line with ball in hand. They were led by speedster Ivor Andrews and were supported by Duane Brown and debutant Devante Sias, who had a solid debut on flyhalf.
Jason Potgieter had a good match, while veteran Gareth Burger, Antonio Mahapi and Thembelani Nurse were solid in carrying the ball forward, as well as proving solid on defence.
Potgieter scored the only try for Brumbies in the first half under the poles.
Devante Sias converted, while Police scored four first-half tries to gave them a solid 22-7 lead at the break.
Fullback Duane Brown scored for Brumbies late in the second half, but the home side continued to dominate with a further four tries.
In the end, Police proved too good for Brumbies and deserved their convincing win.
Brumbies under 21 winger Jamie Walters slotted two penalties in their defeat against Police under-21s. Brumbies face Winter Rose, from East London, in their next Super 12 fixture.
The game is on Saturday at the Oval.
