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August 22 - The A-team was back in business at Greenside on Friday night when Pirates surprised Rustenburg Impala 34-30, ending their dream of completing the second round of the Predator League unbeaten.
Coach Neil Kalify borrowed from the legendary Hannibal Smith and said: “I love it when a plan comes together.”
There was urgency in the Pirates side and one could see it in almost everything they did, particularly in defence.
Impala held a 19-10 lead at half-time when Kalify told his troops to close down scrumhalf Jermaine Appollis and outside centre Dwayne Jordaan's space.
“Our forwards were magnificent. Coenie Viljoen was outstanding en our scrummaging was more than solid,” says Kalify.
The other standout players were makeshift number eight Richard Prinsloo and scrumhalf Chris Christodoulou.
While the play-offs are out of reach the five points from this victory and five points from the cancelled Vaal Reefs match will see Impala improve their place on the log.
They should be hovering just beneath Impala and the Top 4 and should take confidence into their last game of the season this weekend against the Pukke.
Scorers:
Pirates: Tries: Toy Prinsloo, Andrew Wilkens, Coenie Viljoen, Warren Steyn. Conversions: Jarrod Hettema (3), Ryan Neyt.
The University of Johannesburg got a bit of a fright on Friday night when they only narrowly beat Union 31-30 in a tightly contested affair.
Union, with their three Lions players George Earle, Dries van Schalkwyk and JP Joubert, were in a different league from previous seasons and put the students under pressure – especially up front.
UJ’s Biscuit van Deventer was one of the stand out players with a hat trick of tries after score two against Raiders last weekend.
Points:
UJ: Tries: Biscuit van Deventer (3), Jacques Gnade, Shane Kirkwood. Conversions: Luan Steenkamp (3).
Union coach Pierre van Jaarsveld talks about the big one that got away as a victory over UJ slipped out of his teams grasp with the send-off of Louwtjie Grobler late in the second half.
The Bulldogs had the upper hand in the scrums and were dominating proceedings but when Grobler went off, UJ sealed the game with a converted try.
Points:
Tries: JP Joubert (2), Dewald van Deventer. Conversions: Justin Botha (3). Penalties: Botha (2). Drop Goal: Botha
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