Maties Prove to Be Too Strong

The FNB Ikey Tigers fell short of the mark against FNB Maties on Saturday afternoon as they went down 52-19. A flurry of three tries within five minutes from FNB Maties saw the game slipping away from the FNB Ikey Tigers, yet despite the result, there are some positives that can be taken away from the game.

“We were unlucky not to be leading at halftime, but I’m still optimistic because I saw some of our best attacks of the season in a game against one of the best teams in the league. We are of course disappointed with the loss, but there are definitely some positives,” said Christiaan Esterhuizen.

The FNB Ikey Tigers were leading for a spell during the first half, and went in to the halftime break trailing 14-19.
“When we had the ball in hand, we were clinical and were very organized when we ran at them, Msizi Zondi also had two great runs down the touchline,” Esterhuizen added, Msizi Zondi would go on to score one of the FNB Ikey Tigers’ three tries of the day.

“It was a loss of concentration that lead to their tries, and from then on we had to play catch-up rugby,” Esterhuizen went on to explain. His words are similar to those he spoke earlier on in the season during the FNB Varsity Cup, noting how detrimental even a momentary lapse in concentration could be.

Gary Porter, Sanele Malwane and Vernon Peterson all suffered injuries during the match. Both Peterson and Porter seemed to have sustained injuries that could possibly keep them off the field for the rest of the season.

The FNB Ikey Tigers team that took the field:
1 William Day, 2 Msizi Zondi, 3 Waryin Losper, 4 Duncan Saffy, 5 Vernon Peterson, 6 Jason Klaasen, 7 Sanele Malwane, 8 Josh Moon, 9 Stef de Gouveia, 10 Rob Anderson, 11 Gerard Pieterse, 12 Rico Lategan, 13 Joel Smith, 14 Rayno Mapoe, 15 Matthew Redman

Replacements:
16 Cuan Hablutzel, 17 Michael Kumbirai, 18 Gary Porter, 19 David Meihuizen, 20 TBC, 21 Dylan Tydbury, 22 Lohan Lubbe