OGS eye 2015 league title

Ngoni Dapira
OLD Georgians (OGS) are eyeing the Northern League Cup despite currently being third on the log standings. The team is buoyed by the two games they have in hand.
OGS massacred host Mutare Sports Club (MSC) 88-7 last Saturday as the topflight Northern Rugby League winds down. OGS seem to be gaining form after the side trampled over Police Defenders 87-3 the previous week.
They last won the league in 2012 and in 2013 narrowly went down to defending champions, Old Hararians in the finals.

OGS coach Grant Mitchell said they still have a chance to play in the finals if they win the remaining matches.
Mitchell said although lack of funding for the topflight league was a heavy blow for all clubs, he was content that most of the clubs managed to complete the season.

“The 15s season is about to end now, but I guess the most important thing is that rugby is being played.
“We may be on third position right now on the log, but with two games in hand we can still eye for a spot in the finals,” said Mitchell.

The experienced OGS side came with its full entourage of veteran national team players, the likes of Stephen Hunduza, Boyd Rouse, Jacquies Leito, Fortune Chipendu and Pieter Joubert to mention a few, who dominated the field and turned last Saturday’s match into a practice session.

In the first two-minutes of play, OGS placed a try from kick-off through their swift centre Hunduza, who showed his dexterity, side-stepping past four players in the 22-yard to score an easy individual effort try.

Eight-minutes later Hunduza placed another try, while other tries that followed in the first half came from Joubert, Daniel Capsopoulos and Phillip Jeans, ending the first half 45-0.

Barely four-minutes into the second half, Ryan Sprake touched down his first try and Chipendu placed another try eight minutes later in the 66th minute.
In the 72nd minute, a high tackle on a MSC player in the visitors five-yard area gave the hosts a penalty try which was successfully kicked through by flyhalf Armson Makumbe, putting the first and last points for the Mutare Shumbas.

In the last 15 minutes of play, the match became a bit chaotic as emotions started creeping into the hosts.
In the 75th minute MSC’s Blessing Chizadza received a yellow card for a professional foul.

OGS’s Sprake and Joubert also received yellow cards along with Chizadza for interfering with the referee’s decision and the three were booked out of the match for 10-minutes.

In the 80th minute, MSC’s Dennis Museredzi got a red card for a tip-tackle on Leito, which took him out of the match on a stretcher with a severe back injury.
The match momentarily turned into Wrestle Mania after the foul tackle on Leito, but the referee was quick to restrain the players and take control of the match.

The match continued and OGS terrorised the hosts further, placing more tries through Kingsley Lang, Chipendu and Sprake again and the last try coming from substitute Simba Mandioma, to end the match 88-7.

Mitchell said he was impressed by the performance of new players like Mandioma and Lang, as he builds a team for the future.
MSC coach Mackenzie Munetsi said his team could have done better to reduce the high scoreboard reading.

“When you face big teams, some players get intimidated and lose their game strategy. I think that is what happened. After a good match against OJS the week before with almost the same size of big forwards, we failed to give our running game to them and suffered for that,” said Munetsi.

In other league matches played last Saturday, HSC whitewashed OJS 102-0, while OH defeated Police 36-15.
Tomorrow (Saturday) in Harare, OGS will host defending champions OH in a potential thriller, while Harare Sports Club will take on Police Defenders at the same venue.
MSC and OJS will have a bye this weekend.

The match pitting OGS and OH will, however, be the watershed match for OGS that need maximum points in their remaining matches to book a place in the finals.
OH remains on top of the log after overtaking HSC, followed by OGS on third position, OJS, Police Defenders and MSC.