Shocking reffing costs Rhinos

RHINOS 1 and 2 went down at Mick Kelly Park on Saturday to UKZN Impis in bottom-of-the-log Premier Reserve League clashes, which saw the Pietermaritzburg referee’s make controversial decisions that cost the home side dearly.

The Maritzburg outfit arrived late for their game, causing the second team game to be shortened by 20 minutes.

Despite this unprofessional move from the visitors, the referees in both games were so deliberately biased that the home side never really stood a chance.

Captain Trevor Dlodlo lead his troops out onto the park for the second team encounter, which saw the home side go down in the dying seconds by 10 points to 12.

The first half proved scrappy, as the home side’s forwards looked like zombies on the field going through the motions and the backline received poor ball on the back foot, allowing the defensive line to shoot up and turn over possession.

This resulted in the visitors taking a 5-0 lead into half-time, thanks to a try from scrumhalf Langa Shange.

The home side came to the party in the second half, dominating line-outs, scrums and set pieces, which resulted in tries from winger Sanele Makoena and eighthman Nqobi Kunene, which gave the Rhinos a 10-5 lead.

A series of shocking referee decisions lead to Shange’s second try, which was converted by Mondli Nthshingila, which gave the visitors a narrow 12-10 victory.

Unlucky

The first teams took to the field next to do battle, which saw the Rhinos miss out on scoring opportunities due to unfavourable bounces of the ball.

The visitors took and early 13-7 lead into the shed at half-time, thanks to an intercept try from Yandisa Mdolomba, which Matt Torrance converted. Torrance added a further two penalties following further questionable referee decisions.

Khayelihle Mbuyazi scored under the sticks for the home side, which Dirkie de Waal converted.

The second half saw Rhinos dominate all aspects of play and resulted in a penalty try which De Waal converted, followed up by a try from fullback Lihle Mazibuko which De Waal again converted to take the score to 21-13.

UZKN bounced back immediately with a try under the posts from Lwazi Ngcungama, which Torrance converted to take the scores to 20-21.

But once again the referee took the game out of the home side’s grasp when he awarded two controversial penalties which gave the visitors a 26-21 victory.

Rhinos will travel to Durban to take on Varsity College in their next clash on Saturday. They will then host Crusaders on 26 July, before taking on Pietermaritzburg Collegians in their final game on 2 August in Maritzburg.