Thanda RZA Zululand Rhinos and Foton Maritzburg Varsity came close to upsetting two of the so called more favoured sides Goss and Balfe Crusaders and Jonsson College Rovers respectively. Envirosan Old Boys also had to come from behind to beat Airtron Harlequins while Acer Durban Collegians was the only side that came away with a relatively easy victory in a weekend of entertaining House of Paint Premier Division club rugby.

Rovers and Crusaders were made to work hard for victory with Rovers going ahead 24-0 in the first 20 minutes of their game against the students and picking up the bonus point with four tries in the process. Varsity came back with vengeance in the last quarter of the first half and with Rovers only up 24-18 at the break it was anyone’s game. Rovers were on the back foot for most of the second half playing into a strong wind but managed to weather the storm eventually sneaking home 32-25 out scoring their visitors five tries to two with Neil de Bruyn and Rosco ‘Ferrari’ Specman both crossing for two each and doing the early damage.

Varsity’s points came from tries by Jono van Rensburg and Rovers old boys Olaf Eggers and TC Khoza with Matt Boylan doing the rest with his boot.

Crusaders had to dig deep to come away with a home win edging out Zululand Rhinos 13-10 in a thrilling, nail-bighting contest. Crusaders head coach Robert du Preez must have been tearing his hair out all afternoon with so many chances going begging. Corky Crous couldn’t have been feeling any better about his charges as the Zululand lads could have perhaps held onto victory. A late try by Graham Fourie who recently returned to the game after a long injury however managed to level the scores 10-10 before flyhalf Kobus de Kock slotted the match-winning penalty almost on time for the home side.

Oldies found themselves trailing 11-10 against their visitors Harlequins but came good in the second half to run out winners with a 27-11 victory while Collegians comfortably beat ChemSpec Jaguars on KP 10 44-21 although the boys from Sydenham did look good in the early stages.

In the Under 20 ‘A’ Division, Collegians scored a record-breaking 188 points over Jaguars, which it has to be said is really not good for the game. Empangeni also had a big win beating Crusaders 75-5 at Mick Kelly Park leaving the two bottom sides in the competition way off the pace. Rovers had the multi-talented Hendrik Hogenbozem and Carl Meyer in fine form with two tries each in their 43-6 win over Maritzburg. SA Under 21 player Monde Hadebe, Junior Corneisson and Les Potgieter crossed for the others with Meyer and Kyle Wilkinson sharing the kicks.

In the remaining game, a fast-improving Old Boys outfit accounted for Quins beating the side from the Bluff 32-14.

In the First Division South Section Gestetner Maritzburg Collegians seem to have got their act together beating Hillcrest 19-5 leaving the competition very interestingly poised. Amanzimtoti beat their hosts Durban Varsity 50-7 and South Coast Warriors accounted for Maritzburg Elephants 36-12.