Valke floors Boksburg

Add as a preferred source on Google

The visitors outscored Boksburg eight tries to two in an entertaining friendly encounter, which was played in front of a healthy crowd.

The clash was Boksburg’s second match of the year as they continue with preparations for the Assupol League and Cell C Community Cup, which begin in March and April respectively.

Valke loose-forward Vincent Gwavu was first to cross the white-wash when he powered over Boksburg’s try-line, with fly-half Jaco Oosthuizen adding the extra two points from the conversion.

The crowd did not have to wait long for the next phase of scoring action as flyer Kyle Hendriks made it two tries to hand his side a perfect start, 12-0.

Boksburg winger Ferdie Erasmus got his side on the board with a penalty, but it was the visitors who did more damage to their opponents. Hooker Devlin Hope stretched his side’s lead to make it 17-3 when he found a gap on Boksburg’s left-hand channel.

The dry conditions in Boksburg were ideal for fast-paced rugby and both teams looked for running gaps whenever an opportunity presented itself.

It took four tries from the visitors before Boksburg to get off the mark in their try-scoring.

Following scrumhalf Jaco Snyman’s unconverted dot-down to make it 24-3 to the visitors, the hometeam made their response through Jacques van der Walt, with the loose forward dotting under the posts before Erasmus added two points.

Valke pivot Oosthuizen turned from provider to scorer with a try of his own, which was converted by Hendriks. The visitors added another converted five-pointer through Gwavu, with the wing forward crashing through the Boksburg defence, after a quick tap in front of the try-line to hand his side a 28-point lead going into half-time.

The hometeam were not prepared to back down and made a bright start to the second stanza with fullback Ashwell Adams going over after multiple phases from an attacking scrum to make the score more respectable at 38-17.

The homeside began to claw their way back with replacement halfback Ashley Buchler’s penalty reducing the deficit to 18 points.

With belief suddenly instilled in the Boksburg ranks following the try, they were prepared to run the ball from everywhere but a forced turn-over close to the halfway line resulted in the Valke’s seventh try through Oosthuizen, to virtually put the game out of the hometeam’s reach.

Replacement back Angus Cleophas converted to make it 45-20.

Both sides would go on and exchange an unconverted try and a penalty respectively through Valke’s No. 20, Anrich Richter, and Boksburg’s Buchler to make the final score 50-23.

Boksburg coach, Willie Smith remained upbeat despite the loss.

“I think the boys played well, especially in the second-half where I thought we were the better team. The two dropped balls could have made a helluva difference,” said Smith, referring to his side’s handling errors.

“But considering that they are provincial team, I’m happy with the guys’ overall performance.”