15 Mar 2020

Reigning Botswana Rugby Union champions, Gaborone Hogs resumed their title defence with an emphatic 31-13 victory against BDF Cheeters at Duma grounds on Saturday.

Hogs started the game on a high note, profiting from a poor scrum by Cheeters which led to a penalty convention by Hogs scrum-half Pride Nyameni in the first 10 minutes.

In the 20th minute, Hogs’ outside-centre, James Vambe produced the play of the day as he plucked the ball out of the air and made a sole 22 metre run to touch down by the try line giving Hogs their first try points of the game.

With a sea of green-clad BDF Cheeters supporters dominating the stands at a packed Duma grounds, Hogs were in no mood to be pleasant to their rivals as Vambe and Nyameni combined to give Hogs their second field points with another try and penalty convention.

In a brutally physical game, Hogs bossed the breakdown and held a commanding 19-3 lead at half-time.

As the intensity of the game increased in the second half, it was the Hogs who relished the physicality of the game with Vambe haunting the Cheeters backline and scoring his third try to put the game beyond Cheeters reach.

Cheeters, meanwhile, did not help themselves with a weak defensive effort while unable to penetrate the Hogs backline. However, Martin Simons gave the army team a lifeline in the dying minutes of the game by scoring a late try.

The Cheeters tried to claw their way back into the game but their indiscipline caught up with them as captain, Omphile Dubola received a yellow card which entailed a 10 minutes suspension from the game thus leaving his team with a player short.

In a post-match interview, Hogs coach, Shaun Lees applauded his team for executing the game plan accordingly.

“Clearly, playing against the much physical  Cheeters does not faze us as we were dominant from the first whistle to the last. Credit to my team’s backline for a great attacking game as well as my forward players for good scrums whenever they were called into action,” he said.

Lees, however, cautioned his team not to get carried away by the victory, saying a lot still needed to be done.

Following the Saturday game, Hogs are at the top of the league while Cheeters would regroup ahead of their next fixture. Ends