Motorvaps False Bay made a welcome return to more familiar ways when they beat NTK 57-5 at Constantia on Saturday. The Bay led 17-0 at the break.
In the end, the Bay’s nine tries to one winning margin left no doubt that the hosts are regaining composure in a season characterised by some ordinary performances.
The visitors, struggling for depth, suffered heavy losses in the preliminary matches, each of False Bay’s teams on the bill exceeding the 70 points for mark.
False Bay’s under-20 A team delivered a slick, ruthless performance in their 76-0 whitewash of the guests to keep themselves in the reckoning to be one of the three clubs who qualify for the play-offs in the UXi/BBRU Cross-Border U/20 Competition, a national inter-club competition currently on the go across South Africa.
The brainchild of the Blue Bulls RFU, this competition involves 21 clubs from various segments of the country. Broken into three regions, northern, central and southern, the top three finishing clubs in each section progress to the knockout stages in September.
It has been designed to give young players at rugby clubs the opportunity to showcase their talent against the best in their age group. One of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union’s strategic goals is to make club rugby relative again, particularly under-20 rugby, which will allow young players the opportunity to catch the eye of professional unions in South Africa.
Here in Cape Town the participating clubs are Stellenbosch University, UCT, Hamiltons, UWC, Uni-Mil, Tygerberg, Durbanville-Bellville and False Bay. The contest has been on the go since early April, with the inter-club league fixtures counting towards the table.
The Bay’s under-20A team stand a fair chance of qualifying for the play-offs. By its nature, the competition’s log table reflects a disparate number of matches played per team. This is simply because only eight of the 15 teams in the league qualify, and by that measurement, the matches played column will always be out of kilter.
With the majority of their UXi/BBRU Cross-Border U/20 Competition matches completed, False Bay need a win by what appears to be more than 60 points.
Supporters at the Constantia club are by no means writing off coaches Ashley Pears, Kwaks Ngwanya and Brandon Salomo and their band of determined warriors. They have produced some sparkling rugby this season, and their three losses to Stellenbosch, Durbell and unbeaten Hamilton, were hard-fought and close affairs.
Of course participation in this competition is the prize all clubs are eyeing. Travelling to another centre of the country to participate against some of the best players in the country is both exciting and challenging. A simple trip to Pretoria, for instance, tests the mettle of most players, be it the altitude or hard underfoot conditions. Off the field, the long-standing club tradition of making friends after the contest is to be savoured.
False Bay’s weekend of home rugby starts on Friday with an exciting encounter between the Bay Badgers (U20B) against Hamilton, followed by Bay versus Bay, never an easy contest and a guaranteed don’t-stand-back battle.
On the main match day, the Bay host Hamlets of Mamre at Constantia on Saturday. Their exciting under-20 A team start the day’s proceedings off at 1.25pm. Entry is R20 but free for pupils.
- Jon Harris is a member of False Bay RFC.
