by Davie Lawrence
The Sanlam Boland Top12 kicked off this weekend and as promised it was a weekend full of drama, action, and heaps of memories.
Sanlam made sure the players were confidently back, Tekkie Town got every tekkie in each town into the stadium and Fan Park, Vumatel connected every fan with every moment on the field, and there was lots of gold at the end of Rainbow for some teams while others were left having to pick themselves while enjoying their ice cold Heineken-gifted beverage.
Overall, a very good representation of the Umbro jersey with a few players, coaches, and supporters having to call Santam for good and proper insurance because after all ‘This is Freedom’.
Group A – the tale of a symmetrical log
In Group A, Caledon made their voices heard, beating Vredenburg on their home turf, 26-32, Eagles almost secured their first win on the big stage, but they came unstuck in a nail-biting game which Abbotsdale claimed, 42-36. Villagers Worcester showed why they are considered one of the firm favourites in the competition by beating Newton’s 29-28 at Boland Stadium in Wellington, in a game that was played in front of almost 7000 spectators. Newton’s missing a very challenging up-against-the-touchline conversion at the death which would have seen them snatch the victory away from the visiting side.
This weekend Caledon hosts Newton’s in a must-win game for the visitors, Abbotsdale hit the road to Worcester while Eagles welcome Vredenburg at the Jan Opperman Stadium in Vanrhynsdorp.
Defending champion Safcol United kicked off their Group B campaign in with a nail-biting 28-25 victory over Ceres in Grabouw. The home side put unnecessary pressure on themselves when two tries were disallowed when both players lost control of the ball behind the try line as they were about to ground the ball. Despite that, this game could have gone either way in the end.
In the West Coast derby, Saldanha did not have much trouble cruising past a spirited Young Spurs at Doringbaai, 46-16. In Robertson, the home team made their voices heard when they thrashed Darling 64-21. Darling will soon want to forget this game when they welcome Young Spurs this weekend. Safcol travels to Saldanha in a game that will attract a lot of interest at a stadium where Safcol has achieved much success in recent years. The Sanlam Boland Top 12 champs won the 2023 Saldanha Easter competition, while a confident Robertson side travels to Ceres full of confidence where they will want to make it two in a row.
If the past weekend was any indication of what can be expected in the Sanlam Boland Top12, then the coming one should be another big one, in South Africa’s largest club rugby competition.