Dawn: Good, bad and ugly
I managed to get to chat to our new Captain for Currie Cup, Tera Mthembu and he was feeling very positive and energised. Brad (Head Coach for Currie Cup), was concentrating on getting the basics right and was treating the opposition with the necessary respect. All the players had decided, to honour the significant female in their lives by wearing their name on the jerseys as they ran out. This was how they celebrated Women’s Day. With gender based violence increasing every year, I am really pleased to see the youngsters honour the female role in their lives.
The Ugly
Craig Joubert immediately handed out a red card to Jonathan Francke for an extremely dangerous tip tackle on a Sharks player. I commend him for taking immediate action and giving the maximum punishment. Thomas “The Tank Engine” du Toit was yellow carded early in the second half. I know that he was disappointed with his performance as he also yielded a few scrum penalties. I am expecting him to work on the areas of concern and I am looking forward to a massive improvement.
The Bad
The Sharks struggled to capitalise on the advantage! The red card was handed out in the 7th minute, yet the home team caught up to within 7 points! Tonderai helped the Griquas score by having, what I can only call a’ brain fart’. He received a ball under pressure and instead of passing the ball, he panicked and kicked it out on the 5 metre line handing the Griquas an attacking l/out! They scored from this!
The Good
A beautiful passage of play resulted in Freddie diving over and giving the boys the first try of the match. I thought that Freddie had an outstanding game and will improve even more. Centre Paul also caught a beautiful off-load from Tonderai and dodged a few defenders to dive over the white line. By this time, I had no voice. How wonderful. The off-loads were beautiful. My baby, S’bura showed wonderful form by crossing the line to score without even getting tackled! Odwa had a great game and I am pleased to see him back in action. Botes was epic on defence.
However, credit has to be given to the Griquas who never gave up! They were outstanding and we were lucky to get the win. In the end, we did not manage to get a bonus point, however in Kimberly, you take what you can get! We need to work on our scrums. Kyle needs to work on his throws as we lost a few line-outs.
Overall, I am delighted that boys have given me a truly wonderful Women’s Day present! Thank you darlings, I am still smiling.