Tough day for the Bay at Brookside

Jon Harris

It was a highly anticipated Top Five SLA clash, high-flying Village FC hosting Motorvaps False Bay at Brookside and after 80 action-packed minutes, it was the hosts who stood as 36-12 victors. The half time score was 13-12.

Before the encounter kicked off, the teams gathered for a moment’s silence to honour club members who had recently passed. The most recent was Brad Bing, founder of Sporting Chance, a sports development organisation.

One could not help but wonder how many of the young folks attending and participating in the entire programme were touched by this organisation.

The anticipation of this clash was perhaps reflected in the spectators framing the pitch, many lining in the office block corridors like sparrows on a telephone wire. The reverence in which the contest was held was perhaps reflected in the appointment of one of the country’s foremost referees, Amy Barret-Theron.

From the opening shrill blast on her whistle, there was no doubt as to the intent of these two teams, the hosts with their massive pack, confrontational and physical, their guests not as bulky and apparently with a plan to upset the power pattern of the Dirty Whites.

Villager appeared to choose an in-your-face type of rugby, hardly surprising considering that this has been their stock pattern for the season, and definitely the only way to play with this pack of forwards, who are backed up by a half-back pair that ignites opportunity and get defences scrambling as they maraud close to their forwards and create space out wide as they suck the defense. The Brooksiders opened the scoring after left wing Gabriels soared up the narrow side near the touchline to score in the corner.

False Bay, stung but not shocked, continued to play their running game which had their hosts scrambling. They levelled the scores with a try off a lineout by prop Nazier Nazaar, with flyhalf Ewan Adams converting to give his team the lead. The running game of the Bay looked as if it may work, but it was countered by the structure of Villager.

The contest was close, brutal with victory in different facets of play shared, for the first half that is. The front row battle was brutal, two beefy premier lines of the scrum gunning for each other at every scrum. In the lineouts, Bay’s Andrew Goode shone, claiming many of the Villager throws.

Fullback Grobler regained the lead for Villager with the first of his three penalties, a lead forfeited when Adams charged a kick down, gathered and streaked past defences for a try, which he converted. Motorvaps False Bay were 12-8 in the lead, and the feeling that they may continue to accumulate points as the contest progressed appeared to be settling the nerves of the visiting support. Until big prop "Aladdin” Neethling ordered the Bay defences to part with his command of Open Sesame and he waltzed over for a try.

It gave the scoreboard its half time appearance but not before two devastating blows to the Bay just before the break. First was the ankle injury to Bay’s scrum anchor, Tahriq Allen, a loss which ended False Bay’s effective contesting of this facet. It was not solely his loss which resulted in this, it was the red card issued to their eighthman Shaine Orderson, after an interjection by the assistant referee. 

False Bay were down to 14 men for the rest of the contest. Despite the slender one-point lead at the break, with a seven-man scrum trying to contain a powerful eight-man unit, it was always going to be a gallant effort if the Constantia outfit were to return home victors. Villager firepower, the smell of victory filling their nostrils swamped their gallant opponents. Of course, the entry point of the Brooksiders overwhelming half dominance was their scrum. They put their hapless opponents on their heels, often receiving adjudication reward as the Bay tried to stem the tide.

The day was a celebration of rugby, with the hosts deserved victors in the main encounter. Bragging rights stand for another year, this time belonging to the Claremont club, now lying second on the SLA2025 table.

 False Bay host St Georges at Constantia on Saturday. First games start at 1.25, with the main contest kicking off at 4pm.

(Blurb) Jon Harris is a member of False Bay RFC