The Green Machine made their way to Mpumalanga to play HTS Middelburg aka Die Rooibulle.
On Saturday, the 22nd of July these two schools met for the first time in a derby.
Before the match started, both teams lined up to shake hands and wish each other well.
Glenwood played thrilling rugby, running the ball with every opportunity for a massive 83-0 victory.
Fresh from a successful Craven Week campaign, the Glenwood outfit had to make some changes to the starting line-up with lock Cade Esterhuizen, eighth-man Dean Needham and wing Aaron Larue.
The match started promising with both teams attacking the advantage line but nerves set in and both teams initially made some handling errors. It was Die Rooibulle who carried the ball up to Glenwood’s 22 but they were unable to score due to Glenwood’s solid defence and a few errors by HTS Middelburg haltered their effort. With a steady scrum, Glenwood spread the ball wide to their speedster Siyanda Cele, who with some space, was brought down just inside Middelburg’s half.
10 Minutes into the half Glenwood stole the ball from HTS Middelburg’s lineout. Runako Brynard, with a strong run, carried the ball up to 5m from the try-line. Joe Jonas spread it wide to JC Conradie who managed to find his way through but was held up on the line. Again, scrum-half Joe Jonas with a quick ball, skipped pass to Aaron Larue on the wing, who stretched over to score for Glenwood’s first try.
From the kick-off, Glenwood showed their intent to run with the ball and after a couple of good runs from Runako Brynard and Joe Jonas, they found themselves in touching distance of scoring. From the set piece, Glenwood tried to break through but the strong Middelburg defence held up until scrum-half Joe Jonas spotted a gap and burst through to score Glenwood’s second try.
Glenwood’s 3rd try came after another powerful surge up the field by Runako Brynard. Glenwood played through a couple of phases before prop Thabiso Mdletshe broke through a tackle to score an easy try for the visitors. Rynhardt Jonker converted for a 17-0 lead.
An exhilarating period of running rugby ensued when Glenwood found themselves back in Middelburg’s 22. Joe Jonas slipped through and passed to Siyanda Cele, who was stopped metres away from the try line and lost the ball forward. Putting the Middelburg pack under pressure Glenwood turned the ball over after a knock on by their scrumhalf. Dylan Pretorius received the ball, dummied and pop the ball to Jean Roux who made his way over to score under the poles. Joe Jonas converted with the score 24-0 with 15 minutes to play in the first half!
Glenwood was switching into fifth gear to make their way to Middelburg’s try-line with a kick and chase from Jean Roux. Middelburg’s centre caught the ball but unfortunately carried it over. A 5 metres scrum was awarded to Glenwood. Dylan Pretorius passed to JC Conradie who sidestepped his way past two defenders to score Glenwood’s 5th try. Rynhardt Jonker converted the try for a score of 31-0.
Middelburg won the ball from the kick-off and tried desperately to gain some advantage when Glenwood was penalised for not rolling away from a tackle. A poor lineout throw gave Glenwood another chance to attack. Another powerful run by prop Thabiso Mdletshe and a great offload to Aaron Larue gave Glenwood the opportunity to score again but Middelburg managed to turn the ball over. With yet another handling error from Middelburg, Glenwood had a scrum right on the 5m line. The Glenwood backline set JC Conradie up to dot down behind the line. Rynhardt Jonker was successful with the conversion. The score crept to 38-0.
Middelburg had a chance to run with the ball but handling errors pursued and Glenwood had to put the ball into the scrum. The ball was played to wings which Aaron Larue accepted with some space and stepped his way past the three defenders to jog in for another simple try. This Glenwood team running riot setting a score of 43-0.
With another error from the kick-off, Middelburg handed Glenwood a scrum on the middle. Fortunately, they turned it over and had a crack at the Glenwood defence. This was probably their best chance to score as they came teasingly close. Some incredible defence by the Green Machine kept them out and scoreless as the half time whistle blew.
This brought an end to an exhilarating half of rugby with 7 tries by Glenwood and much anticipation for the next half.
Early in the second half, Glenwood made some player changes with George Luzolo, Conan le Fleur and Carlo Cloete all coming on.
It did not take long for Glenwood to get back into their scoring ways when Rynhardt Jonker crossed over after some scrappy defence from the Middelburg back-line. Joe Jonas converted successfully with a score of 50-0.
Middelburg again secured the ball from the kick-off and did well to keep it alive for several phases before kicking it away. Glenwood wing, Aaron Larue, slipped through a gap and made his way to the try line. He offloaded in a tackle to Jean Roux who almost knocked it on but managed to control it to score another easy Glenwood try. The conversion was successful by Rynhardt Jonker and the score 57-0.
Straight from the kick-off, Glenwood ran with the ball. Conan la Fleur found a gap, putting Rynhardt Jonker into space. The ball was carried out into touch and Middelburg had a sigh of relief.
Werner Coetzee was substituted by Lunga NCUBE who immediately made an impact. With a scrum, Middelburg had another chance to redeem themselves but opted to kick the ball away into Glenwood’s half.
With 10 minutes left to play, Glenwood clearly wasn’t done. Rynhardt Jonker scored his 2nd try diving over in the corner after Lunga Ncube carried the ball up to inside Middelburg’s 22. Quick ball from the ruck gave Glenwood an overlap on the left and Rynhardt Jonker scored. The score increased to 62-0.
Glenwood was awarded a scrum deep inside their own 22m and with no surprise decided to run but a handling error on the left wing stopped them in their tracks. Middelburg had the put into the scrum but great defence from JC Conradie turned the ball over in the tackle. Joe Jonas passed to Conan le Fleur who spotted a small gap, managed to get through and running an incredible 78 metres to score right next to the upright. Conversion by Rynhardt Jonker was successful and set the score on 69-0.
Only 2 minutes later Conan La Fleur found himself crossing the whitewash again after a beautiful team effort from the Green machine, with strong runs from Ruan Olivier, Runako Brynard and Dylan Pretorius. Conan received the ball from Deon Needham on Middelburg’s 22 and powered his way over to score Glenwood’s 12th try. Joe Jonas converted for a score of 76-0.
At this point Middelburg was helpless and the entertaining Glenwood outfit threw everything at them. Middelburg kicked the ball after a scrum and it was successfully gathered by the left wing who had only one man to beat. He decided to chip and chase but the cool and calm Rynhardt Jonker managed to keep the ball alive. It was nothing strange to see Glenwood running the ball from their own try-line but fortunately for Middelburg a forward pass meant a sigh of relief for them.
Glenwood was awarded a free kick after an early bind for the scrum. They opted to tap and go, spreading it wide to replacement winger Carlo Cloete who was brought down 10 meters short of the try-line. Lunga Ncube was the first receiver and with an open try-line dived over for Glenwood’s 13th try. A successful conversion by Rynhardt Jonker handed Glenwood with a splendid 83-0 win.
The match was much a one-sided affair, with superb breakdown play, quick passing through the hands of the backline and exciting running. It was a hard and exciting match to watch. Glenwood took every opportunity, running the ball from deep in their own half to keep the scoreboard changing ever so often. Glenwood worked together like a well-oiled machine on the day, using the scoring opportunities and they prey on Middelburg’s mistakes.
We would like to thank HTS Middelburg for their hospitality and a fantastic day of rugby across all teams and sport codes.
GLENWOOD: 83 (43)
Tries: Aaron Larue (2), Joe Jonas, Thabiso Mdletshe, Jean Roux (2), JC Conradie (2), Rynhardt Jonker (2), Conan La Fleur (2), Lunga Ncube
Conversions: Rynhardt Jonker (5), Joe Jonas (3),
HTS MIDDELBURG: 0(0)
Report by Mr Alex van der Merwe