Owls win first Valke Peregrine League match
The Owls will need to implement the consistency Erasmus alluded to real quick, with Vereeniging the next visitors to PG Park on April 13.
The Boksburg Rugby Club kicked-off their Valke Peregrine League campaign with a routine 43-26 win over North-West University (NWU) Vaal Triangle at Prince George Park on March 30.
The half-time score was 17-14 to the home team, but it could’ve easily been a wider gap had the Owls resisted taking the visitors lightly.
With Francois Erasmus’ men clearly the better side from the onset, the off-season rustiness that needs more shaking off was evidently a factor in sections of their overall performance, with some lacklustre displays apparent in crucial moments much to the frustration of the onlookers.
They did, however, up the tempo, taking it to a level too high for the students as they outscored them 26-12 to secure the all-important bonus-point victory.
Here’s how Owls trainer Erasmus saw the game: “We started off quite well, then we entered a bit of a slump which allowed them to come back. We then played well again towards the end. If you play the big sides, you have to be consistent throughout the game.
“Our fitness is getting there and we are still going to work on it.”
On the final score, the mentor added: “I believe the final score was a true reflection of the game; I’m a bit concerned with that try we let them score right at the end, but yes, I believe we were the better side and 43-19 compared to 43-26 would’ve been much better.”
Robust inside centre Brandon Swart scored two tries for the Owls before Drikus Myburgh and Christo Diesel also registered their names on the score sheet.
Fly half Henry Pike missed none of the resulting conversions.
The first receiver also knocked five penalties over – for an overall personal haul of 23 points.
NWU Vaal also had a player who produced an outstanding individual effort in left winger Illario Mkunyana – the flyer scored a hat-trick of tries. Flanker Shawn Swart also touched down to match the Owls on the try-scoring stats. Full back Kazlo Holzhauzen converted three of the four tries.
NWU Vaal’s Shaun Meijer said: “We started off very well and we were leading after half-time.
“I wouldn’t say the final score was a true reflection of the game, we played really well, we just lost concentration at important points of the game.”
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