First half of the season draws to a close

The FNB Ikey Tigers pulled off yet another victory on Wednesday night as they overcame Brackenfell by a score line of 24-20. The four points that separated the two teams by the end of the match is misleading in this case, as the FNB Ikey Tigers had put on a dominant display on their way to picking up the win.

“It was a really strange match. We were absolutely dominant and we were camping on their line for about ninety-percent of the time,” said Christiaan Esterhuizen.

“We scored three tries that were denied, and that got to us and made it difficult for the rest of the game. The game was also very stop-start, but getting the win late on a Wednesday night showed great character from the boys,” Esterhuizen added.

This latest victory leaves the FNB Ikey Tigers with thirty points after nine games played, sitting in second spot on the log after having played a few more games than their closest competitors. With the first half of the season coming to an end, they only have one remaining match against a Durb-Bell side that haven’t quite enjoyed a very successful start to the season, winning three and losing three matches so far.

“Durb-Bell are a traditional ‘big four’ side, and matches against them are always going to be tough. They’re a good club, they recruit well and have a professional setup,” Esterhuizen said when asked about their next opponents.

“They’ve had a bit of a slow start to the season, but they’ve had a bit of a break now so they’ve had time to fix things that needed fixing. They’ve conceded a lot of points, but they’re too good to let that go on. So we know we’ll be facing a much improved side, so we’re looking forward to a good game of rugby in which both teams will be looking to perform,” concluded Esterhuizen.

The FNB Ikey Tigers set to take on Durb-Bell on Saturday, the 24th of June (16:00) at Groote Schuur A:

1 Waryin Losper, 2 Cuan Hablutzel, 3 Lee-Marvin Mazebuko, 4 Brad Bosman, 5 David Meihuizen, 6 Liam Greenalgh, 7 Matt Andrews, 8 Jack Walters, 9 Mike Henning, 10 Lohan Lubbe, 11 Rayno Mapoe, 12 Robbie Ball, 13 Liam Furniss, 14 Damian Rawstone, 15 Joel Smith.

Replacements:

16 Brenton Greaves, 17 Msizi Zondi, 18 Joel Paarwater, 19 Josh van Vuuren, 20 Stef de Gouveia, 21 Rob Anderson/Stephen Wallace (TBC), 22 Tristan Mouton.