22 July 2023
The Glenwood 1st XV rode a strong first half to victory over Northwood on Reece-Edwards Field on Saturday, racing into a 28-0 lead before withstanding a furious fightback from the Knights to record a 33-21 win.
Earlier in the season, Northwood had recorded a stirring 29-22 victory at Glenwood, so the Green Machine’s win levelled the season’s results.
Their performance in the opening half was impressive. They took their opportunities well and made Northwood pay for their errors. With Jaco Williams, who recently signed with the Sharks, pulling the strings effectively from fullback and then flyhalf, Glenwood executed the basics well.
A game of two halves
It was, however, as the score suggests, a game of two halves. There were a number of reasons for that, Glenwood coach Derek Heiberg told Pinnacle Schools: “We knew we were going to struggle in the second half because we hadn’t played in a while and we had quite a few injuries,” he said. “I was very happy with the first half.
“In the second half, obviously we knew they were going to come back, but you can’t give away 11 penalties in one half of rugby. If you do that, I don’t think you’re going to be competitive. We gave them a lot of initiative back, which we weren’t happy about. But I am very happy with the performance.”
The Green Machine seized the initiative early in the first half by scoring from a cleverly constructed lineout move, which put Keagan Goosen over in the left-hand corner. Then, a charge down lifted the visitors’ total to 14 points in just 12 minutes.
A good driving maul brought them a third try, which Johandre van Rooyen converted, his third in succession, to make it 21-0.
Then, a sharp break by Jaco Williams tore a big hole in the Knights’ defence and Tyrique Hartnick, supporting on Williams’ inside shoulder, then went over under the posts, leaving Van Rooyen with an easy kick to make it 28-0.
Gameplan
“Our gameplan was to force them to kick on our terms and then transition, which is exactly what we did, so I am glad it worked out,” coach Heiberg said of his team’s first half performance.
“I thought Jaco was very good, and I thought he was very good in terms of his game management. We all know he’s a great player, but I also thought the scrumhalves, Tyrique Hartnick and Andrew Martins were very, very good.”
Northwood needing to find a spark in the second half and, almost predictably, it was Siyanda Nkosi who provided it, running a good support line off of a quickly taken tap to go over for a try early in the second stanza.
Cade Latham tacked on the extras to make it 28-7 in favour of Glenwood.
Crucial turnover
Northwood went on the offensive again and were in a strong position to add to their tally when they won a lineout five metres from the Green Machine’s try-line. Glenwood, though, claimed the throw-in. Keagan Goosen snagged an overthrown ball and set a Glenwood attack in motion.
Then, a grubber into the Northwood 22, along with a good chase, put the hosts under heavy pressure. When the ball went loose on the right touchline, wing Chijundu Okonta cleverly tapped it over the try-line with his right boot and fell on it to add five points to his side’s total. Van Rooyen was wide with his conversion attempt, but Glenwood were well clear at 33-7.
Goosen, who usually runs out at hooker for Glenwood, was forced into action at flank because of injuries, but he turned in a man of the match performance. “He produced [outstanding rugby],” Heiberg said. “We were very short at loose-forward. Shaka Mzimela hasn’t played all year. Kane Plasket-Burne got injured at Academy Week, and our first-choice open side, Ntobeko Dlamini, was out with a hip flexor problem, so we really had to reinvent the wheel. It was pretty much a 2nd XV loose-forward trio.”
Threw caution to the wind
Northwood, trailing by 26 points, threw caution to the wind and ran the ball at every opportunity, stretching and challenging the Green Machine’s defensive lines. Twice, they broke through.
Kwenzo Dlamini went over in the left-hand corner, with Cade Latham adding a fine conversion, and Northwood then struck with a flowing move from their own 22 to take their tally to 21 points.
Unfortunately for the home team, though, they had left themselves way too much to do to haul in Glenwood and the visitors saw out the rest of the game to win by 12 points, 33-21.
RESULTS
1st: Northwood 21-33 Glenwood
2nd: Northwood 10-17 Glenwood
3rd: Northwood 5-10 Glenwood
4th: Northwood 10-10 Glenwood
5th: Northwood 14-5 Glenwood
16A: Northwood 27-20 Glenwood
16B: Northwood 0-31 Glenwood
16C: Northwood 7-7 Glenwood
16D: Northwood 7-12 Glenwood
15A: Northwood 21-12 Glenwood
15B: Northwood 24-0 Glenwood
15C: Northwood 10-12 Glenwood
15D: Northwood 42-0 Glenwood
14A: Northwood 22-10 Glenwood
14B: Northwood 12-0 Glenwood
14C: Northwood 19-5 Glenwood
14D: Northwood 17-10 Glenwood
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