The Maties Women’s Rugby team was dominant in its recent victory over the Elto-Towers Kuils River Rugby Football Club’s ladies team, scoring nine tries in total.
Despite fielding a relatively inexperienced team, the Maties Women’s Rugby team secured a 51-5 victory against the Elto-Towers Kuils River Rugby Football Club’s ladies team, said Johann Zeier, head coach of Maties Women’s Rugby. PHOTO: William Brederode
Maties fielded a relatively inexperienced team on 2 September, as they rested some players in anticipation of the upcoming University Sports South Africa (USSA) sevens rugby tournament, which starts on 23 September. This is according to Johann Zeier, head coach of Maties Women’s Rugby.
MatieMedia was in attendance as the Stellenbosch side secured a 51-5 victory.
Costly mistakes
After a relatively even start to the game, Kuils River saw two yellow cards in as many minutes after two high tackles. This gave Maties a numerical advantage which they were able to capitalise on, as they scored two tries while the players were off the field, said Zeier.
“That was a big mistake from our side,” said Abraham Magiel, head coach of the Elto-Towers Kuils River Rugby Football Club’s ladies team, adding that the yellow cards were their downfall in the first half.
“We were positive from the beginning to the end. There were some faults we made, but we will fix it like we usually do,” said Brooklyn Jones, team captain of Kuils River Rugby Football Club’s ladies team. PHOTO: William Brederode
Kuils River managed to secure a try after sustained pressure just before the end of the first half. This took Maties into half time with a lead of 22-5.
From there on, Maties scored at regular intervals throughout the match, with eight different try scorers. This included two from Ilse du Plessis, who’s usual position is flank, but played her first game in the backline.
Du Plessis was named player of the match.
While Kuils River made too many handling errors and missed tackles, nothing should be taken away from the Maties team, who showed commitment and a good understanding with one another, claimed Magiel.
With this victory, Maties Women’s Rugby have won four out of five of their league matches in the standard format this season, said Zeier. However, they are not where they would like to be on the table, as they had to forfeit several games due to conflict with fixtures in the sevens format.
Moving forward
“We are very, very new players. It was difficult and things were a little bit unorganised but, overall, we did very well and executed what we practised. A win is just a bonus,” said Du Plessis.
Kuils River were punished with two yellow cards that were awarded in quick succession for high tackles in their recent match against Maties Women’s Rugby. The Maties team scored two tries while Kuils River were two players down, said Johann Zeier, head coach of Maties Women’s Rugby. PHOTO: William Brederode
The result bodes well for the upcoming USSA sevens competition, which starts on 23 September, and the team’s season-ending tour to Pretoria for Varsity Sports sevens, which starts on 7 October, said Zeier.
It was also a positive match for Kuils River, who will take the lessons from this defeat and improve as the season continues, said Brooklyn Jones, their team captain.