03 Apr 2016

Gaborone Hogs continued their unbeaten start to the Botswana Rugby Union (BRU) A Division campaign with a 25-0 victory over UB Rhinos at Wharic Park on Saturday.

The defending champions have won all the three league matches they have played so far this season. 

They applied pressure on their bitter rivals from the onset and forced Rhinos to give away a penalty in the fourth minute, which Eddie Oesthuizen scored. 

Rhinos’ packs had no answers to their opponents’ aggressive play and Hogs extended their lead in the seventh minute through a try by George Mathe. 

Oesthuizen made a successful conversion to leave Hogs leading 10-0 early in the match.   

Rhinos failed to recover from their poor start and were second best for the rest of the first half.  

They fell further behind when Oesthuizen scored another penalty in the 23rd minute and James ‘JJ’ Harris scored a second in the 30th minute.  Kaelo Mogotsi missed two successive penalties late in the first half which could have reduced the deficit. Rhinos played better in the second half even though they failed to find a way past the well-coordinated Hogs packs. Hogs wrapped up their victory with a last minute try scored by Hugo Botha and conversion by Harris.

Botha, who was also Hogs coach, said his team played well in the first half but faded after halftime because of lack of fitness. 

He said they would concentrate on improving their fitness before their next match. “It was a good game and we played well in the first half. We struggled a bit in the second half but our fitness will get better as the season continues. Our tight five dominated and made it easier for the backs and all other players. So I was impressed with the spirit from my players,” Botha said. Rhinos’ Munyaradzi Mhonda said his team played well despite succumbing to their second loss of the season which saw them remain rooted at the bottom of the log standings.  Mhondsa said they lost the game because they failed to convert their attacks into points. “We are not going to take it hard that we lost the game today. We still have plenty more games to go. We will work on our mistakes and improve on the technical errors we made today,” he said.

In the reserve league match Jwaneng defeated BIUST 10-5, while UB Rhinos beat Gaborone Hogs 20-0 in the Women’s League match. Ends