31 Aug 2015

Gaborone Rugby Club (The Hogs) have won their first league title in three years after beating LKC Jaguars 15-0 in the A-Division final played at Wharic Park on Saturday (August 29).

Tries by flanker Roland Megan in the first half and Sean Bester in the second half as well as a penalty and conversion by fullback Eddie Oosthuizen helped the Hogs down the Jaguars, who were playing in their first ever A-Division final.

The Hogs lived up to their favourites tag and put pressure on the Livingstone Kolobeng College (LKC) packs from the onset.

Jaguars gave away a foul inside their 22 metre line in the eighth minute as the Hogs pressure told, but fullback Eddie Oosthuizen missed the target from the resultant penalty. But the Jaguars found their footing as the match progressed and nearly shocked Hogs when Letlhogile Tsheko burst through, but some scampering tackles by the Hogs back-liners stopped him in the nick of time and Hogs cleared their lines.

Hogs grabbed a 5-0 lead in the 34th-minute when Megan forced his way through the Jaguars back-line and scored the first try of the match. But Oosthuizen, who was uncharacteristically sloppy with his footwork, placed the resultant conversion wide.

The fullback however made amends by despatching a penalty to extend Hogs’ lead to 8-0 after Jaguars gave away another foul in their own half. Jaguars made a gallant attempt to fight their way back into contention in the second half, but struggled to penetrate the solid Hogs packs.

They were further punished when Bester easily evaded some desperate tackles and touched down through the middle of the posts in the 59th-minute to extend his team’s lead. Oosthuizen made a successful conversion to make the final score 15-0.

Hogs head coach Andrew Paxinos said the match was tough, but he was pleased with the way his team applied itself. “The final is always tough. Our plan was to keep pressure on their forwards, bully them in the forwards and keep it tight,” he said.

Jaguars player-coach Taku Mhonda said he was pleased with the performance from his team despite losing. “Our game plan was to frustrate them in the packs, and I think we did well. We lost the match in the second half after we lost a bit of discipline and gave away that soft try,” he said. Ends