Maties edge Saracens Storm
The FNB Maties celebrated the opening of the new Stellenbosch Academy of Sport with a 28-26 win over the Saracens Storm on Wednesday.
Eight tries were scored in sweltering conditions at Paul Roos, with the entire Saracens first team squad looking on from the stands - including the likes of former Springbok captain John Smit, ex-England skipper Steve Borthwick and new England squad members Mouritz Botha, Brad Barritt and Owen Farrell (to name just a few).
There were also some big names in the Saracens Storm side - the likes of Islanders Kameli Ratuvou (centre) and Michael Tagicakibau (wing) and evergreen back five forward Hugh Vyvyan - whilst a few Stellenbosch students made up the numbers for the visitors.
Two of the Storm's 'loan' players, flanker Nicholas de Jager and centre Mark Hodgkiss, scored for the visitors, but replacement back Donald Stevens missed a late conversion which would have meant a 28-28 draw.
In the end, however, the Maties edged their more illustrious opponents by two points, with Grant Hattingh, Wessel Coetzee, Tertius Daniller (pictured) and Os Hamman crossing the whitewash for the Men in Maroon.
New recruit, former UJ flyhalf André Smith, converted all four tries for the Maties.
No.8 Daniller showed up very well for the hosts, charging down the kick which led to Hattingh's early try, whilst he was rewarded with his own try in the 52nd minute as Stellenbosch drew level at 21-21, having trailed by 14-21 at half-time.
Powerhouse prop Hamman crossed for what was the winning try nine minutes from full-time - with the tighthead also putting in a few big hits during the second half! - and his regular teammate Hodgkiss almost drew his team level when he scored two minutes later.
The score (and victory), of course, was not the major motivation for long-time Maties head coach Chean Roux but he would have been happy with some individual performances on the day.
The scorers:
For FNB Maties:
Tries: Hattingh, Coetzee, Daniller, Hamman
Cons: Smith 4
For Saracens Storm:
Tries: De Jager, Spurling, Ratuvou, Hodgkiss
Cons: Mordt 3
The teams:
Maties: 15 Jarryd Buys, 14 Pieter Peens, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Louis Jordaan, 11 Tythan Adams, 10 André Smith, 9 Boela Abrahams, 8 Tertius Daniller, 7 Sam Mabombo, 6 Helmut Lehman, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Grant Hattingh, 3 Os Hamman, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Brummer Badenhorst.
Replacements: 16 Alfred Ries, 17 Jacques Kotze, 18 Wilhem van der Sluys, 19 JP Swanepoel, 20 Andries Truter, 21 JH Potgieter, 22 Wessel Coetzee, 23 Dean Hammond/Stephan Venter.
Storm: 15 Ben Ransom, 14 Duncan Taylor, 13 Joel Tomkins, 12 Kameli Ratuvou, 11 Michael Tagicakibau, 10 Nils Mordt, 9 Luke Baldwin, 8 Hugh Vyvyan, 7 Nicholas de Jager, 6 Lampies Lamprecht, 5 Hayden Smith, 4 Eion Sherriff, 3 Suan Havenga, 2 Scott Spurling, 1 Nick Auterac.
Replacements: 16 Gareth Light, 17 Nian Berg, 18 Schalk Ferreira, 19 Shann Mcdonald, 20 Donald Stevens, 21 André Kemp, 22 Mark Hodgkiss, 23 Chris Hopkins.
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