Gimmies too strong for Kwaggas

It was not the journey that was so hard, but the vigour, strength and skill of the opposition that made it tough and the journey home seem so much longer than the journey there.

It is certainly not that Outeniqua are a poor side but they came up against an exceptional team who took almost every opportunity offers to score six tries and receive the award of a penalty try.

Both sides ran from the start and their passing was excellent. Gim’s was more frequent and much more profitable.

The first try came inside the first two minutes of the match. A penalty and a great touch-finder by inside centre Charl Janson gave Gim a five-metre line-out on the right. They tested the Outeniqua goal as they went left till a quick pass to fast, strong Stravino Jacobs on the left wing and he scored in the corner. From far out, Janson converted. 7-0.

The penalty count in this half (11-0 to Paarl Gim) was a part of Kwaggas’ woes. Another opine, another Janson touch-finder and another five-metre line-out. This time, Gim mauled and raced over with a try credited to hooker Van Eeden Hanekom at the back of the maul.

Three penalties led to three line-outs in quick succession, a sequence ended with a penalty try, when Gim’s maul was pulled down at the line, and an Outeniqua yellow card. 19-0 after 13 minutes.

During the 10 minutes of the yellow card, there was no scoring though Jacobs came close, tackled by Aylan Scabort just short of the left corner.

Then Gim went through advancing phases and energetic No.8 Juan Wilson gave to fullback Tiaan Swanepoel, who, with some nifty footwork, scored a try which brought the score to 26-0, the half score.

Outeniqua kicked off to start the second half and Swanepoel scored his second try, and so Outeniqua kicked off again. This time it was again Wilson who made the telling running down the right. He gave to centre Stephan du Toit who gave inside to Swanepoel.  33-0.

Again a penalty gave Gim an attacking line-out. Pierich Siebert was stopped two metres from the line. Gim went left to then Jacobs, who took three steps and scored. 38-0.

Back came Gim, bashing over and over and over again at the Outeniqua line till flyhalf Jurie Mathee danced over at the posts. 45-0.

Then Outeniqua had a great chance when captain Scabort broke and raced down to the Gim goal-line. Tackled short, he got the ball back and the Kwaggas attacked. But it all came to nought when prop Jovan Bekker intercepted Zinedine Robinson’s pass and galloped down the midfield. Gim went right. Siebert ran strongly just in from touch and gave an inside pass to captain Dean Nieuwoudt who scored, taking the score to 50-0 with 13 minutes to play.

Sheer speed brought Gim its last try. Outeniqua wing Ridge Gaffley did some spontaneous footwork but when he was tackled, Gim won a turnover and the ball went right to Swanepoel two metres inside his own half and up against the touchline. Away the fullback raced to score an electric try. 57-0 with seven minutes to play. In this last seven minutes, Outeniqua came close to scoring but Gim were not having their line crossed.

Scorers:

For Paarl Gim: Stravino Jacobs 2, Van Eeden Hanekom, penalty try, Tiaan Swanepoel 3, Jurie Matthee, Dean Nieuwoudt
Tries: Charl Janson 5 plus penalty try’s two points.

Teams:

Paarl Gim: 15 Tiaan Swanepoel, 14 Willem van Niekerk, 13 Stephan du Toit, 12 Charl Janson, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Bobby Alexander, 8 Juan Wilson, 7 Pierich Siebert, 6 Dean Nieuwoudt (captain), 5 Juan Beukes, 4 Mark Etzebeth, 3 Jovan Bekker, 2 Van Eeden Hanekom, 1 Preben Verleden
Replacements: 16 Liam Compion, 17 Wian van Zyl, 18 Gerhard van Niekerk, 19 Hendri Siebert, 20 Dirk Visser, 21 Rikus Brand, 22 Jacques Marais, 23 Hein Strauss
Coaches: Pieter Rossouw, Helmut Lehmann

Outeniqua: 15 Matthew Thorne, 14 Herchelle Otto, 13 Darren Fortuin, 12 Aylan Scabort (captain), 11 Ridge Gaffley, 10 Zinedine Robinson, 9 Abre Minnie, 8 Bennet Nortjé, 7 Leon Volschenk, 6 Braam van Huysteen, 5 Pieter Ferreira , 4 Andre Pretorius, 3 Jaco Gerber, 2 Eldon Lotz, 1 Jonathan Joseph
Replacements: 16 Chad Coetzee, 17 Brian Williams, 18 Corné Struwig, 19 Ruan Barnard, 20 Sergio Stalmeester, 21 Gerhard Ackerman, 22 Curtley Smith, 23 JJ Snyman
Coaches: Abre Minnie, Jacques Wolfaardt

Referee: Nathan Barry (Western Province Referees’ Society)