Rugby Mitch Labberte offloads to Connor Ross during False bay RFC's game against Hamilton SP.
Image: Marc Wyllie
Motorvaps False Bay complete their preparation for the upcoming Super League A season when they host northern suburbs friendly rivals, Durbel at Constantia on Saturday.
It will be the fourth and final friendly match for the Bay, who across their spectrum of teams find themselves in a rebuilding phase, albeit it off a solid platform. Last week they came up against Hamilton and it would be remiss not to dedicate some content to this remarkable club.
South Africa's oldest rugby club celebrates their 150th anniversary this year and have lined up a rich programme of events to celebrate this auspicious milestone. Its magnitude is difficult to fully comprehend, history ultimately being reduced to numbers on a page. March 14, 1875 somehow loses impact without accompanying historical context.
Their on-field prowess does not speak for itself, it bellows. One of the province's foremost rugby clubs for the duration of its existence, Hamilton remains a powerhouse of the amateur game on and off the pitch. Aptly, they celebrate the occasion as defending 2024 SLA Champions.
Against this backdrop, the young whippersnappers from down the Blue Route, Motorvaps False Bay, arrived at the Stephen Grounds, more focused on improvement in execution and team development than victory. Improvement in all aspects of their game; maturation of young talent and ensuring that the measurables remain on the upward trajectory.
They were up against much the entire SLA2024-winning squad, proud, ominous and determined to make this special year in their club's existence one without potholes and blips along the way.
The first half of the friendly certainly affirmed this. The powerful, big Hammies pack laid a foundation for a first half dominance and a 21-0 lead at the break.
The second half perfectly demonstrated the Bay's capacity to vie for Super League A finish among the knockout qualifiers. They checked the Hamilton advance and bagged the second half honours, scoring a converted try without reply.
At the end of the day, wherein Hamiltons delivered victories across the majority of the fixtures, both teams achieved what they set out to do, victory the cherry for Hammies.
It was an evening of rugby played in the spirit of camaraderie and mutual respect. It came on the heels of a dinner to commemorate March 14th, 1875. It preceded a festival of under-20 rugby held on Human Rights weekend. It was simply so apt, a doff of the hat to tenacious, proud and innovative leader of the Cape club rugby community.
Motorvaps False Bay's head coach, Ashley Wells, was never going to allow the occasion to shift focus for his team. He has been instrumental in developing young talent at the Constantia club over the past four years and it is perhaps apt that on the day, Motorvaps False Bay fielded five Under 20 players from last season's squad.
Each of these young Turks and their more experienced teammates have bought into team and club goals.
Rugby Daniel Hayes takes two defenders with him during the encounter against Hamilton.
Image: Daniel Hayes
False Bay's teams across the leagues continue to show growth and improvement in preparation for a tough SLA2025.
To this end, Motorvaps False Bay, like their visitors Durbell on Saturday, know that this is the final rehearsal before the curtain lifts on the 2025 Super League A season a week later.
The first of seven matches starts at 12.30pm on Saturday with the main game kicking off at 4pm.
Rugby Connor Ross finds space to launch an attack in False Bay and Hamilton game.
Image: Connor Ross