Vereeniging swoops to victory over Owls
The Vereeniging Rugby Club completed the double over their Boksburg namesakes with a 47-31 win on Saturday, July 1.
The high-scoring Valke Peregrine League encounter saw the hosts pull away in the second half following a competitive opening stanza which ended 14-12 in favour of Vereeniging, who beat the Owls 37-25 in the reverse fixture several weeks ago.
The men from Prince George Park have experienced a terrible turn in fortune since the second round of the league, which began with a desperate loss to defending champions Brakpan on June 9.
Cross-road rivals East Rand United then rubbed salt into the Owls’ wounds with a thumping win at PG Park, their most recent fixture before the Vereeniging meeting.
Their silver lining in the Vereeniging clash was brought in the form of in-form outside centre David Woolls, who just can’t stop himself from scoring, adding a brace to take his tally to a league-leading 11 tries.
Owls halfback Johan Labuschagne was named man of the match.
Owls assistant coach Sean Scheepers said: “I thought we played really well at stages in the match. We made some basic errors and the bounce of the ball was not on our side.
“The guys really put in a massive effort on the day. Hats off to the guys for fighting and trying right to the end.
“It’s been one of those seasons where with a bit of luck and 50/50 calls maybe going our way, we might have been right up there. We still have a young team with lots of talent and we’re learning every week.
“We just need something to spark off back-to-back victories. We’re looking to close our season on a high and the guys will be putting everything on the line in the next games.”
The Owls return home this weekend, with Springs being the visitors. Kick-off is at 4pm.
Boksburg scorers: Tries: David Woolls (2), De Wet Botha, Jason Jonker and Jonas Elais. Conversions: De Wet Botha, Ruben Carelse and Attie van der Nest.
Boksburg
1 Travis Howell, 2 Juan Brummer, 3 Jamie Evans, 4 Chris Ras, 5 Gary Woolls, 6 Danie Schultz (captain), 7 Willem Botes, 8 Jacques Carelse, 9 Johan Labuschagne; 10 De Wet Botha, 11 Attie van der Nest, 12 Jacques Bouma, 13 David Woolls, 14 Jason Jonker and 15 Ruben Carelse. Bench: 16 Beast Nkateko, 17 Alwyn Russouw, 18 Francois Malherbe, 19 Alexander Thorpe, 20 Elais Jonas, 21 Noel Whaggstaff, 22 Leon van Rooyen – @SabeloBoksburg
