Rhodes University’s 1st XV cruised past the Border Bulldogs Academy, securing a comfortable 31-10 victory at the University of Fort Hare's Alice campus on Friday 16 May.
Rhodes University’s 1st XV cruised past the Border Bulldogs Academy, securing a comfortable 31-10 victory at the University of Fort Hare's Alice campus on Friday 16 May.
“It was an intense game. We showed plenty of guts and the boys stepped up to the plate and played well,” said Rhodes flanker Ben Davies.
Davies was named Man of the Match for his try, two assists and tireless work on attack and defense.
Border skipper Siphamandla Dama lamented his side’s defense. “We didn’t play our best,” he said.
The opening minutes were evenly contested.
Rhodes scored first after being awarded a penalty due to Border’s misbehavior in a ruck. Fullback Jonty Rawlins converted, giving Rhodes a 3-0 lead.
The away side was well-drilled, with dominant lineouts and scrums; their set-moves in the backline tore the Border backs apart.
Rhodes’ lineout's ascendency saw lock Justin McDougall steal a Border lineout, leading to a break from Davies, who popped an inside pass to the surprisingly speedy prop Chris White.
White then dotted the ball down under the poles for Rhodes’ first five-pointer.
Rawlins converted, making the score 10-0 to Rhodes.
Border struggled to contain Rhodes’ attack. Rhodes fly half Matt King conducted the onslaught by slipping runners into acres of space through the heart of Border’s midfield and out wide.
Rhodes also shut down Border inside centre Nikita Manqoyi, who was the go-to man for every Border set play in the backs.
Rhodes continued their dazzling backline performance.
A long, floated pass from King to Rawlins saw him offloading to winger Siviwe Gushu, who sailed down the touchline unopposed for another Rhodes try.
Rawlins converted again, and extended Rhodes’ lead to 17 points.
This was followed by a Herculean break from Rhodes’ 12 Stu Scott-Martin, who passed to lanky lock Mark Brookes and ended with Davies receiving the final pass to score Rhodes’ third try.
Rawlins continued his fine kicking form with another conversion.
24-0 was up on the scoreboard and reflected Rhodes’ authority. Border did begin to take risks and deviate from their boring tactics.
A quick tap and go from halfway saw eighthman Naythan Knoetze set off on an impressive run, which ended with a draw and pass to wing Anda Nanto, who scored for the home team against the run of play.
The conversion was missed, but finally Border got points on the board.
24-5 was the half-time score. The second 40 saw Rhodes picking up where they left off.
A tap and go from King saw Rawlins receiving the ball in the 10-channel, where he burrowed under a few Border defenders to score. He converted his own try.
It was now 31-5 and seemingly game, set and match to Rhodes. Border didn’t go down without a fight however.
They scored another try when they stole the ball off a Rhodes mall and sent it wide for reserve back Ayavuya Mavuso to dive over the whitewash and score.
The score remained 31-10 following another missed conversion.
Border threw everything they could at Rhodes in the last minutes of the game, but Rhodes held out, earning themselves an impressive away win.
