The Community Cup got off to a dramatic start in Worcester, where Villagers Worcester scored a try at the death to beat Sishen 24-20.
In Port Elizabeth, African Bombers caused the biggest upset of the weekend when two tries from fullback Xolela Payi and 19 points from the boot of mercurial flyhalf Masixole ‘Coyi’ Banda gave them a 35-22 win over Welkom Rovers.
At Kings Park in Durban, College Rovers kicked off their campaign with an impressive win over Despatch, while there were also impressive wins for African Bombers, Raiders and Roses United.
Rovers were clinical, scoring four tries to two to grab a five-point haul, in the process notching up an impressive 80th victory in 84 matches dating back four seasons! They pulled away in the second half with centre Sergio Torrens, replacement back Kyle Wilkinson and scrumhalf Tian Meyer dotting down to go with the try scored by flanker Murray Bondesio in the first half. Fullback Jors Dannhauser weighed in with 15 points by way of three penalties and three conversions.
There were also wins for Raiders, who ran out 45-12 winners over Noordelikes, while in Wellington Roses United beat White River 65-36 in a thrilling encounter at Pelican Park.
And in Pretoria, home side Police held out for a bonus-point 35-26 victory against Durbanville-Bellville. Leading 27-7 at halftime thanks to a brace of tries from Ruan van Loo and one just before the break by Luka van Biljon the Bobbies seemed to be cruising to an easy win over the team they knocked out at the quarterfinal stage of last year’s Club Championships.
But Durbell fought back with tries from Divan Batt and Raynor Becker immediately upon resumption to close the gap to six points. Michael Nienaber dived over for the home side’s fourth try but Jody Reynecke scored a brilliant individual try to reduce the deficit once again with 15 minutes left on the clock.
Flyhalf Dylan Laubscher slotted his third penalty for a tally of six out of seven for the day to stretch the advantage to nine points with only a few minutes remaining. Despite a valiant effort from the Western Province club to secure a second losing bonus point, Police stopped the traffic to bag a full house of points.
Results, Round 1:
Pool A – College Rovers 38-17 Despatch; Villagers Worcester 24-20 Sishen.
Pool B – Pretoria Police 35-26 Durbanville-Bellville; African Bombers 35-22 Welkom Rovers.
Pool C – Rustenburg Impala 24-13 Roodepoort; Noordelikes 12-45 Raiders.
Pool D – Roses United 65-36 White River; Old Selbornian 8-15 Brakpan.
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Fixtures, Round 2 – Sat 23 Feb:
Match 9 – Sishen vs College Rovers (Sivos Stadium, Kathu)
Match 10 – SK Walmers vs Villagers Worcester (Green Point Track, Cape Town)
Match 11 – Durbanville-Bellville vs African Bombers (DurBell Club, Cape Town)
Match 12 – Welkom Rovers vs Bloemfontein Police (Rovers Club, Welkom)
Match 13 – Roodepoort vs Noordelikes ( Roodepoort)
Match 14 – Raiders vs Bloemfontein Crusaders (Bill Jardine Stadium, Jhb)
Match 15 – Brakpan vs Roses United (Bosman Stadium, Brakpan)
Match 16 – White River vs Evergreens (White River Rugby Club)
