Afgelopen zondag stond de derby tegen WRCH Te Werve op het programma. Onze prop Sam Lepley bekeek deze wedstrijd vanaf de zijlijn en schreef het volgende verslag.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.
Truer words could not be spoken when referring to the Mighty Third’s performance this past Sunday away at Te Werve. The boys were all familiar faces to me, but with much different mentalities. This could easily be seen from the very beginning. From the start of the warmup the team knew what was coming and where dialled in. Its never easy playing an away derby game against Te Werve especially after last season’s games where they won both. Te Werve on the other hand looked like they didn’t even belong on a rugby field judging from their warmup, they obviously thought this was going to be another simple victory for them. However, the Mighty Thirds had something to say about that.
After a fumbled receiving kick off, we spent the entire first half in our 22, but they couldn’t break through once. Hit after hit, wide ball after wide ball, nothing worked for them. Our boys communicated with each other and put their bodies on the line.
Half time we were 0-3 up thanks to a penalty secured by Keir Wilkinson.
Second half began and pretty much followed the first half, Te Werve throwing everything at us including a few kicks and shoves which resembled how frustrated they were getting. We had a few more attacking opportunities this half which were capitalised on by our new 8th man centre Rossouw. Rossouw scoring both of our tries by using the simple (but effective) method of just running over the opposition and putting the ball down, followed by two solid conversions by Keir making the score 0-17 roughly 20 min into the second half.
However, TeWerve were not finished and after another hard battle in our 22 they managed to break through and score in the last 10 min reminding us that even though you are ahead, you still must fight for the full 80min. That’s exactly what the boys did.
Final score 7-17 to the Mighty Thirds
To the forward pack- MASSIVE scrums! 110% win rate as well as disrupting their rucks.
To the backs – Great communication, support and defence on the wide ball.
To Julius who provided an impressive basket for the third half – Lovely!
Although I have mentioned only a few names in this article, the whole team on that day deserves mention. Nurse those bumps and bruises and be ready for Sparta next week at home. I know Khalid is out for revenge;)
From myself (Sam), Andy and all the supporters, really well done gentlemen!
