HARTSFIELD grounds on Saturday hosted a classic encounter between the Sables and the Springbok legends as part of the Matabeleland Ruby Football Board’s (MRFB) celebration of the ground’s 75 years of existence.
REPORT BY VITALIS MOYO
Des van Jaarsveld, who is the oldest surviving former Springbok at 83 years old kicked the ball to begin the clash.
The Springbok legends ran riot on the scoring front to outplay their neighbours, scoring a massive 11 tries to win the exhilarating encounter 67-24.
The floodgates were opened in the early minutes of the game after Blue Bulls winger John Mametsa slipped past a relaxed Sables defence to place the ball under the posts, while Carlos Spencer, who has played over 30 games for the Legendary All Blacks, followed up with a successful conversion.
Springbok lock Albert Van Der Berg extended his side’s lead when he scored the second try of the match followed by yet another successful conversion off the boot of Spencer to put the Springboks 14 up.
Van Der Berg added three more tries to his tally before the end of the match.
Pieter Multer also scored before Jonathan Artken added another try for the Boks when he was tackled near the try-line, but he managed to place the ball on the line to put the game out of the reach of the Sables legends.
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The home-crowd continued to rally behind the Sables and that paid off when Adam York scored the home team’s first try much to the delight of the fans and some relief to the Sables players, while Lloyd Turner followed up with a successful conversion.
The scoreline was 31-7 at the break.
In the second half, Emmanuel Munyoro made an impressive run down the right side eluding the Springbok defence before placing the ball under the posts to score the Sables’ second try of the day followed by a conversion by Turner.
Dave Walters and Herno Mentz also scored a try each to put the Sables at 24 points at the end of the gruelling clash.
The celebrations were graced by Education, Sport, Arts, and Culture minister David Coltart who applauded MRFB for successfully hosting the event.
“I am delighted that the Springboks came because rugby in Matabeleland has been in the doldrums for a while now and they needed this kind of support. “We are hoping that this will encourage the support of the retired rugby players to be involved in the development of the sport,” Coltart said.
Sports and Recreation Commission president Joseph James and Zimbabwe Rugby Union president John Falkenberg were among the delegates present.
