No walk in the Rhino park for Rovers

COLLEGE Rovers were forced to battle hard for their victory over Empangeni Rhinos at Mick Kelly Park on Friday night.

Both first and second teams lost by closer margins than Rovers usually serve up.

Empangeni second team took an early lead with a try by Thokozani Mdluli and held the Rovers attack at bay until just before the half time whistle when Rovers pushed through heavy defence for five points. Failed conversions by both sides held the scoreboard at 5-5 for the break.

Rovers came back strong in the second half, scoring an early try and dominating the line-outs as well as the scrums. Dirk de Waal scored three points with the boot after Rovers conceded a penalty close to their own 22. Robin Galloway also scored a try and Michael Bodenstein added a further three points for the home side.

The home side defence were hard pressed to keep a strong attack at bay with Rovers scoring twice more before the end of the game, bringing the final score to 24 – 16.

Penalty zone

Rhinos A kept the scoreboard ticking slowly with a string of penalties. Jors Dannhauser was in the spotlight after four successful kicks, putting 12 points on the board.

Rovers showed a lack of discipline at the breakdown, being penalised for the same errors throughout the night. Rhinos were able to capitalise with the boot, despite not being able to score any tries.

Again line-outs were dominated by the visitors and a slow ball from the breakdown made defending easy for Rovers while the referee allowed a rather controversial try for Rovers in the first half, despite the linesman disagreeing.

A tussle broke out on the Rovers try line in the second half, after good set phases of rugby by the Rhinos, resulting in a yellow card for the visitors.

Despite Rovers dominating the Rhinos 22 in the second half, the final score stood at 27 – 12 to the visitors.

‘We are very positive,’ said Team Manager of Empangeni Rhinos, Dave de Villiers. ‘There is a lot of work to be done, no doubt. It is still early in the season and our team is showing great improvement.’

‘It was also the first outing for ten of our players,’ said De Villiers.

‘With our new coach Riaan, I think we can cause one or two upsets this season.’ @kcowan23