Rhinos go down at home

RHINOS 1 and 2 stared down the barrel of the ‘Amanzimtoti shotgun’ at Mick Kelly Park on Saturday, when the home side were victims to yet another premier league defeat.

Rhinos 2 went down 35-6, with the first side losing 43-12.

There has to be light at the end of the tunnel, as when a club is rock bottom on the log, it means the only way forward is up.

Rhinos 2 kicked the action off against the newly promoted side, in a game where Rhinos never bothered to show up.

The visitors took a 14-3 lead into the shed at half time, thanks to two tries from Quinton Potgieter which Jason Hines converted.

Fullback Eugene du Toit kicked a penalty to hand the home side their three points.

Not much changed in the second half, with the home side making mistakes and letting Toti run at them.

Du Toit converted a penalty to end his teams tally at six, with Potgieter, Wesley Smith and Sithembiso Gumede crossing the whitewash, which Hines converted to hand the visitors a comfortable 35-6 bonus point victory.

Captain Trevor Dlodlo (forwards) and flyhalf Lionel Viljoen (backline) received the ‘Man of the Match’ awards.

First team

Rhinos 1 came out firing on all cylinders and were rewarded early in the game when fullback Thokozani Mdluli, crossed the chalk to hand the home side a 5-0 lead.

But then the home side decided to go to sleep for 20 minutes, which allowed Toti to rack up 21 points, thanks to tries from Pieter Harmse (2) and Corne du Toit which Jaco de Jager converted.

Rhinos then decided to return to the party and dominated the last ten minutes of the half, finding themselves unlucky as they failed to finish.

The visitors took at 21-5 lead into the half time break.

The second half proved poor for the home side, with 32 opportunities going begging.

This allowed the visiting side to capitalise on points.

Chasing a game is not a way to play rugby, which the end score proved.

But Martin (liefie) Stander crossed the line for the Rhinos’ second try, which Dirkie de Waal converted to rack up the teams points at 12.

Kevin Buch, Corne du Toit and Zander Erasmus dotted down and with a penalty try and de Jager converting one try, this was a fatal bullet to the Rhinos.

The home side played too slow, made basic errors and could not piece it together.

Rhinos 1 and 2 coaches certainly have their work cut out for them, if they look to turn the season around.

Martin Stander (forwards) and Dirkie de Waal (backs) received the ‘Man of the Match’ awards after their standout performances.

Rhinos 1 and 2 will travel to Pietermaritzburg this weekend, where they will take on UKZN Maritzburg, hoping to get their first win of the season.