Cape Buccaneers Rugby Club

Hammies have been invited to the Melrose 7's. This is the oldest 7's tournament in the world at the home of the inventors of 7's Rugby, Melrose RFC.
The date is 10th April.
For more details you can go to: http://www.melroserugby.bordernet.co.uk/

The club will be using Tech-Gardens for their home fixtures this season because of limitations arising from the soccer World Cup.

The 1st XV have already played one fixture beating George RFC 97-7.

The UNDER 20's A & B sides are at the Paarl Rugby day on Saturday 6th March.

The 1st XV play Robertson (away) on the 20th March, and the week after, the 27th, it's Derby Day at Villager.

Our 1st leage game is Thursday night, April 1st, away at False Bay.

How would you rate your team's prospects in a game where they only had 30% possession, were in their own half for 70 % of the game and had to make 97 tackles against their opponent's meagre 29? Two chances, right? Wrong! When Hammies play they turn conventional wisdom on its head. Those were the statistics for the final of the SA Club Champs and yet Hamiltons still won. How did they do it? The answer is that they took every opportunity they had with ball in hand, took all the 3 pointers on offer, they defended like the Spartans at Thermopolae and converted all their tries.
The game started wuith PUKKE looking very sharp, but when we got the ball, a typical Hammies deft handling movement finished with Terry Jacobs turning the ball inside to Elric Van Vuuren who stepped inside the full-back to score. Our second try came when a well timed run, wide off the back of a ruck saw Ashley Down crash through the PUKKE Number 8 and captain and run over under the posts. A penalty between these two tries and two more in the last ten minutes when PUKKE were yellow-carded down to 14 men saw us reach the interval with 23 points. PUKKE though were not unrewarded, and with all their possession managed to score 3 tries in the half, but converting only one, were 17-23 down at the break.
Hammies went further ahead soon after the break when pressure on a PUKKE ruck forced an error. The ball popped out to a grateful Noel De Villiers who fed Liaam Scriven, and he cut inside for our third and final try of the match. Another penalty 2 minutes later only 44 minutes into the game, and we led 33-17. We only scored once more, another penalty. Tackle, tackle tackle. With a 19 point lead, surely we could hang on. Then it was 36-22. Then 36-29. Then, in the 74th minute another PUKKE try. A draw would mean ten minutes each way of extra time. We would surely not survive that. By now we were dead on our feet from all the defensive work, the heat, our fourth match in 7 days, not to mention playing at altitude, which suited PUKKE much more than us. The conversion went wide and we breathed, with what little breath we had left, a sigh of relief.
A penalty kick for touch gave PUKKE a line-out inside the Hammies "22" with two minutes to play. We scrambled the ball but the resulting PUKKE pressure meant that the clearance kick for touch took us further back towards our own goal line. PUKKE threw the ball in 5 yards out from the Hammies line but we stole the ball again, drove in and formed the ruck. The ball was there for Dustin Jinka to pick up with 15 seconds showing on the stadium clock. Patiently he waited. 5 seconds to go, 4, 3, 2, 1 and then the hooter sounded. Dustin seized the ball and hoofed it into the stands. The final whistle blew and the Hammies players went berserk. Deservedly so.
What a team of heroes. It's hard to single anyone out, there was no-one who didn't stand up to be counted. Maybe Clinton Van Rensburg deserves a mention for leading from the front with his strong running and decisive tackling throughout, and points machine Dustin, who didn't miss a kick.
Anton Moolman must be a very proud coach.
I'm a very happy supporter. It's a fitting end to a remarkable season. I'm saddened only by the fact that after watching every game of the season I couldn't make Pretoria and had to watch the last two matches on TV.
To all of you, Anton and his coaches and the players, from me, and all the supporters this year, I'm sure........THANK YOU!

v UCT away, Saturday 12th September 2009

Going into this game we needed 2 points to ensure winning the league. This could either be achieved from a win (4 points), a draw (2 points) or by picking up 2 bonus points by scoring 4 tries and losing by 7 or less. To win seemed the obvious target, and whilst UCT opened the scoring with a Rosslee penalty we were soon on our way and on the board when the forwards handled well and hooker Louis Loubser dummied his way over for the first try. Dustin Jinka duly converted. Another UCT penalty brought the deficit down to one point but another hard earned try, this time with Francois Prinsloo going over and Dustin converting, made it look as if we were cruising towards our goal of topping the log. If only it had been true. From here on in we really struggled, whether because of nerves or overconfidence, it's hard to say. For the next hour we played possibly some of our worst rugby of the year. UCT scored a try before the change round and at half time we only led by a single point, 13 - 14.
UCT must be given some credit as they never gave up and their full back caused havock in the Hammies defence whenever he ran at them. A Dinka penalty, but they pulled one back. 16 - 17. Another Dinka penalty but they pulled one back. 19 - 20. Into the last few minutes and all we had to do was hang on for the win. We tackled well and were now scrupulous about not giving away a penalty, but Rosslee dropped back into the pocked and struck a perfect field goal to put UCT in the lead.
Hammies quickly took the restart and attacked the UCT defence, moving the ball quickly from side to side, until, unbelievably, with the last play of the match, Alshaun Bock went over in the corner. Dustin's successful conversion was irrelevant, referee Joey Salmans blew the final whistle and Hammies were champions.
"It had to be like that, didn't it?" Clinton said to me after the match. Did it? So many of them have ended this way that I will be unable to report on any matches next year, by order of my doctor. My heart apparently can't take it.
Final score: UCT 22 - 27 Hamiltons.

v Helderberg, away, Friday 4th September 2009

This was a game that we needed to win, bonus points or not, so that a win in the final match would bring home the bacon, and we certainly started well with a bit of a re-jigged back-line. Vaughn Botha was the preferred starter at scrum-half with Clint at outside-half, Noel de Villiers at 12 and Hein Gordon at 13. The wings were still Terry Jacobs and Alshaun Bock, both of whom have been outstanding all season, and it was Terry who opened the scoring after only 2 minutes, with Elric van Vuuren (another outstanding contributor this season) converting.
Then a couple of minutes later we got a penalty 15 yards out in front of the posts. 0 - 10. Sorry, forget that scoreline we went for the line-out, lost the ball, went back to our own half, conceded a penalty,  3 - 7. OK let's start again. So we did, and after a scything break by Noel de Villiers, Hein was there to finish it off. Elric did the honours again. However that was the end of our scoring in the first half and a penalty to Helderberg left it at 6 - 14 at the break.
Rotating scrum halves as we usually do, Justin Dinka replaced Vaughn for the scond half, and Hammies came out determined to make the game safe. We regained our momentum when Alshaun  Bock chasing a kick ahead gathered to score. Not much later, Terry, coming into the line as a third centre, went through the gap to score his second, which Dustin converted.
Helderberg were beginning to defend well against our policy of short ball from Clinton, either inside or outside, and with 20 minutes to go he was replaced with Noel moving to 10 and Roussouw coming on at 12. It turned out to be quite a good move with ball going wider and Roussouw getting over for a try, duly converted by Dustin. At this stage we were totally dominating the match, our forwards playing particularly well, especially flanks Ashley Down & and Gerhard Voss, in attack and defence, Gerhard pulling off the tackle of the season in the last 10 minutes, which inspired the team to some inspired defence when our line was under attack. "They shall not score!"
Noel de Villiers completed the scoring, Dustin tacking on the extra 2 points.
Final score: Helderberg 6 - 40 Hamiltons.

v Victorians, away, Saturday 28th August 2009

It was a beautiful day for rugby, and in light of some of Victorians recent, less than fantastic performances, Hammies must have been looking forward to this game at Coetzenburg. How they felt about it at half time remains open to conjecture. Not that they were the worse side particularly, but they consistently failed to capitalise on good positions. In close-to-the-line positions "pick up and drive" seems to be the mantra in world rugby today. Hammies were no different. Several times we lost the ball doing just this when we had a backline of  3, or even 4 players against 2, and the line beckoning.
Victorians with a try and a penalty were the early leaders in the match but an opportunist try from his charge-down by scrum-half Vaughn Botha brought us back into the game and we turned round only one point adrift.
Whatever Anton and Clint said at half time seemed to work wonders as a Alshaun Bock went over in the corner, at the start of the second half, from the sort of handling that that could easily have brought us points earlier in the game. Justin Dinka came on for Vaughn and we scored another try, this time converted and a penalty, to take us into a 22-8 lead. Then Terry Jacobs and Elric van Vuuren were substituted, and I think by the end of the match the whole of the bench were on.
We were now in a strong position and should have pushed on from there, but we didn't. Whether it was over-confidence or too many changes to the side it's hard to say. We certainly made a lot of handling errors, gave away too many penalties and to large extent seemed to lose our shape. A careless pass and Vics intercepted. Alshaun Bock chasing back made two tackles , but was poorly supported in his defensive efforts and Vics had enough players backing up to take the 7-pointer. Another one of these and the scores would be level.
One would expect this try to be a wake-up call for Hammies, but far from it. Hein Gordon fielding a kick in his own 22, instead of kicking to clear the danger, ran into 3 or 4 men and got tackled with no support. From the resultant play in our 22, Vics eventually rolled a maul over the line for another try. Fortunately they missed the conversion and we remained ahead 22-20 with 5 minutes to go signalled by the referee.
We did spring back to life from the restart and stayed in their half. With less than two minutes to go we got a penalty 10 yards out in front of the poles. Anton from the touchline signalled to take the 3 points, but we duly took the scrum!! The result of course is the same story as the rest of the season..... Hein went over for a try (unconverted), making up for his mis-judgement at the other end, and giving Hammies the bonus point. It was followed by the final whistle.
Final score: Victorians 20 - 27 Hamiltons.

v Maties, home, Friday 21st August 2009

On a cold Friday evening, Hamiltons played what was expected to be their biggest challenge in the scond half of the season, and indeed it was, against a Maties side bristling with experience and talent, including many with Currie Cup and even Super-14 games under their belts. The visitors scored two first half tries that they failed to convert whilst Hammies could only manage a penalty. Halftime 3-10.
In the second half Maties scored a further try but Hammies came back with a good try of their own to keep us in contention. Hammies were playing the open expansive game that they always do despite very tricky underfoot conditions. However, so were the opposition. The forwards were probably fairly evenly matched, but the quality of the Maties inside backs were enough to swing the match their way.
Unfortunately they scored a fourth try for a bonus point and we failed to get any. No bonus point for them and one for us would probably have allowed us to lose again and still win the title. Now we shall have to win all our remaining three fixtures, all away, to finish champions.
Final score: Hamiltons 13 - 27 Maties.

v NNK, away, Saturday 15th August 2009

Hamiltons started this game playing the brand of rugby they've been playing all season with the ball moving swiftly through the hands, mobile forwards taking the ball up and then getting the ball back into play as swiftly as possible. For 20 minutes we were barely out of the Northern's 22, turning down chances to take penalty kicks at goal and kicking into the corners. When a flurry of activity suddenly took the play into our half and NNK were awarded a penalty. They didn't spurn the opportunity. Three-nil down  (although it's doubtful that the ball went between the posts) with not much more than 10 minutes of the first half remaining. Was this the turning point? Biggles, who'd been yelling "take the points" every time we'd got a penalty was biting his nails down to the quick. Undaunted, Hammies continued with their own style of rugby and finally got over the whitewash. When Clinton Van Rensburg got in for a second just before half time Biggles took his head out of his hands and gave that knowing smile that says "God's in his heaven and all's right with the world." Half time score 3-14 in our favour.

We started the second half as we had the first, but this time our thrilling rugby was rewarded much sooner and in less than 10 minutes we'd scored two tries for the bonus point and a 3-26 lead. Then for over 20 minutes we achieved very little and mistakes started creeping into our high risk game. Usually from trying to release the ball in contact or the tackle when it wasn't really on, where setting the ball up would have been the better option. Excusable maybe in this game at this stage, but potentially fatal against a team like Maties as I'm sure Anton is aware. Anyway, this period of play brought  us but one unconverted try to which Northern's replied with a 7-pointer of their own. This seemed to get us going again and we replied in the last 5 or so minutes with 2 more excellent tries. A consolation try at the end for NNK was followed by the final whistle.

We're playing great rugby at times and scoring some outstanding tries. I don't think anyone could be watching more attractive club rugby anywhere in the country.

Final score: NNK 15 - 43 Hamiltons

v Kraaifontein, home, Wednesday 5th August 2009

This rearranged fixture was played on a cold, miserable, wet night. Kraaifontein are relegation bound and looked it. Hammies played an understrength side (injuries? flu? resting players?) and amongst the missing was captain Clinton Van Rensburg who seems to have an aversion to playing against Kraaifontein.

The rugby wasn't great in the first half but certainly good enough. We secured the bonus point early and the halftime score was 29-0. The highlight so far for me was seeing Judgie in the bar walking around without crutches.

I knew I couldn't last the pace having started the evening early at the Olympic Sports Club celebration of 100 years in their building. Consequently I crept away with 25 minutes to go. The score at this stage was 53-0.

Well it looks as if once they got going Hammies didn't let up. It sounds like another five tries scored after I left as the final score was.............

Hamiltons 84 - 0  Kraaifontein

v Durbanville/Belville, away, Saturday 25th July 2009

I am now seriously beginning to believe that the Hamiltons playing and coaching staff are trying to kill off the older, more fragile supporters. They have induced near-heart attacks in at least 6 of the previous games this season and this one was no exception.

We started well enough, getting onto the board with a try against the run of play. In fact Durb-Bell probably had at least as much of the play, certainly terratorially, for the whole of the first half.   However we scored the points with another couple of tries, both converted, to turn around with a 19-3 lead. (Hooker Louis Loubser's try was a picture. He intercepted 10 metres out and suddenly realised there was no-one in front of him, and made the "dash" to the line.)

In the second half we couldn't get it right and slowly but surely they ate into our lead until they finally led 22-19. Two of their tries were gifts; one a charged down kick 5 metres from our line (nor really charged "down" as the ball stuck in their scrum half's stomach and he trotted over) and the other a pass from us to their player on our line and all he had to do was fall over and ground the ball. This is not to take anything away from Durb-Bell who tried all the match to play open, attractive rugby, and if you cast your minds back, we only just managed to beat them 11-10 at home in the first match of the season.

2 minutes from time and we still hadn't scored in the second half but......... yes, you've guessed it, the ending's the same as usual......... at the death we score a try, converted by Elric Van Vuuren, who had another top class game, get the bonus point and the win..................

Final score: Durb-Bell 19 - 26 Hammies 

 

v Villager, home, Saturday 18th July 2009.
After watching the 2nd's struggle to an undeserved draw with a late penalty it was hard not to think about how shambolic the fixture list for Western Province club rugby is. The whole of the season revolves around what suits Maties. This extended break in the middle of the season has done Hammies no good whatsoever, and you could see it from the 2nd team's lacklustre performance after a 3 week lay-off.
What I wondered was it going to do to the 1st XV, especially against a Villager side that has been recently beefed up with new players and was starting to get a few results.
Nothing to worry about, I thought, as Francois Prinsloo dashed over in the first minute and Elric Van Vuuren added the extra two points. We then went to sleep and it took a Villager try and penalty to pull us out of our state of lethargy. A good try by Clinton Van Rensburg with Elric again adding the conversion regained Hammies the lead...... but again we dozed off. Worse than that, we made untold errors, gave away far too many penalties and seemed unwilling to commit in 50/50 situations. The half time score after 2 more Villager penalties was 14 - 14.
The referee's whistle was prominent throughout the match with several yellow cards, but Hammies would be churlish to put the blame solely there for their situation. Villager took the lead 17-14 and a Hammies penalty restored the balance, but with threequarters of the game gone it was difficult to tell which team was top of the league and which one near the bottom!
We were in trouble so I decided to watch the rest from the bar; that seemed to have turned the tide before. Not that there's much encouragement to do so these days. It's looking very run down. Beer at normal pub prices and no glasses to drink it out of and shabby, plastic furniture, no doubt acquired from a recently closed down bordello, taking up so much space that it's difficult enough to walk through the bar, let alone stand and have drink there!
Anyway, enough of that. Did my move do the trick? Well, something did. Hammies were a different side in the last 20 minutes. After scoring another try, they did it again....... and again! The tries were from Francois Prinsloo again, Maurice Reid and Pieter Benade. Elric converted 2 of them.
Yes, another bonus point and another, on paper, convincing win against the old enemy.
Final Score: Hammies 36 - 17  Villager

v S K Walmers, home, Saturday 27th June 2009.
It's hard to give you a perspective on the first half as my eyes were split between Hammies and the second half of the British Lions/Springboks match as I watched one on TV and the other through the bar window.
Suffice it to say that it didn't look good and that by the time the Boks had seen off the Lions, SKW were seeing off Hammies. We turned around 12 - 23 to the bad, and this was further compounded by another SK 7-pointer so that we were 18 points in arrears.
20 minutes to go and needing to score at least 3 tries and convert two, with no response from the opposition, it didn't look good.
But we've been there before haven't we? See Maties & UCT below. The miracle men of club rugby did it again.
Not only did they get the required 19 points to lead 31 - 30, they rounded off the peformance with one more try for good luck.
Hammies win again with the bonus point,
Final Score: Hammies 38 - 30 S K Walmers

v Helderberg, home, Saturday 6th June 2009.
Hopefully, against low ranking Helderberg we weren't going to get the same nerve-racking rugby that we'd had in the two previous games.
However, nothing much happened for us early on in the match. Helderberg had the first opportunity to score but missed a difficult penalty. Then again a penalty attempt by Helderberg, this time very kickable, went badly awry.
Hammies, after this, seemed to sense the urgency of the situation and started to play a bit of rugby. The result was an Alshaun Bock try, Jinka missing the conversion. Alshaun went close again soon after  but the next real scoring opportunity was a penalty miss by Helderberg.
This was a match that we expected to win, and win well, but a quarter of the way through we were only 5 points to nil ahead.
However, we pressed on, and tried to play open free flowing rugby and were rewarded before the half hour by another Alshuan Bock try which was unconverted. 10-0. Soon after Elric van Vuuren scored another try that Jinka failed to convert and the score clicked up another five points.
At this stage Hammies were getting into their stride. Another couple of 5-pointers from Hein Gordon and JG Gilliomee, saw us turn round 25 to nil ahead with the bonus point already in the bag,.
What a diffence from the two previous games!
The second half started fairly well with a try from Maurice Reid, converted by Elric van Vuuren, who had taken over the the goal kicking from Dustin, who had been replaced at scrum half by Liam Slatem.
A couple of yellow cards, Hedley Wessels & a Helderberg player, didn't affect the game too much. But after Elric scored and converted a try, followed by a yellow card on one of the Helderberg centres, the visitors seemed to lose interest.
Clinton was off the field now taking a well deserved rest and Francois Pieterse scored a try converted by Elric, closely followed by a Willie Pieterse try also converted by Elric. The score was now 53-0 and it was festival rugby, running rugby. A chip here and a pass there nearly saw both Alshuan & Willie score before a pass behind his back from Elric saw Noel de Villiers get in for a try that Elric converted. In another free flowing move, man-of the-match Elric van Vuuren fed Willie for another try.
Another flurry of great rugby and a great break by Liam nearly put Willie in again. It was almost over, but a try at the death gave us a great winning scoreline of......
Hamiltons 70 Helderberg 0

 v UCT, home, Saturday 30th May 2009
I can't stand it any more. Watching Hammies every week is going to give me a heart attack. Another cliff-hanger, and this time we were only hanging on with one finger.
The match started with both sides looking evenly balanced. First half scoring was a penalty from Hammies (Justin Jinka), a try from Ikeys, another try from Ikeys, a try from Hammies (Louis Loubser) and another Jinka penalty. At half time it was therefore finely balanced at 11-10 in favour of the home side.
However, there was a strong wind and it looked as if maybe Hammies had not taken full advantage of it. It proved to be true as the wind enabled UCT to keep in our half and kick a couple of penalties before we hit back with an Alshaun Bock try. 16-16. A UCT penalty and a very good try which they converted to lead 16-26, put what looked like the final nail in the Hamiltons coffin. However, down but never out, this seems to be our attitude this season. With very little time left, and contained in our own half, we broke away and Terry Jacobs pirouetted over the line under the posts. No time for the kicking tee and Elric van Vuuren drop-kicked the conversion and rushed back to the centre for the kick-off.
Was there going to be another miracle as there was against Maties. Indeed there was, in no time at all we were back up there and Alshaun Bock went over for his second try. This time Elric took the tee, took his time and took the points. Unbelievable!
The whistle didn't go straightaway and there were a few hairy last dying seconds, but we never looked like surrendering our hard earned lead. The cherry on the top was that the winning try gave us a bonus point. UCT must have felt that they had been burgled but what a great bunch of burglars.
Hamiltons 30 UCT 26



v Maties, away Saturday 23rd May 2009
What a day!
This was truly one of the most exciting sporting events I've ever witnessed.
A determined, unbeaten Hammies turned up to see if they could do something that they'd not done for over 40 years, the last time being the last time they won the Grand Challenge, and that was to beat Maties.
They started off well enough matching them in all the early phases and two excellent kicks by Dustin Jinka gave them a 6 point lead. But Maties hit back with a converted try to edge in front. Hammies regained the lead 11-7 when quick thinking by Alshaun Bock who fed Niekkie Viljoen from a quick lineout, saw the lock charge in unopposed from 25 metres for an unconverted try.
About 10 - 15 minutes before the half ended Hammies seemed to lose some of their structure and made too many mistakes. Even the ever reliable Elric van Vuuren, after making a nice little break, threw the ball to no-one and Maties pounced on it, quickly recycled it and got down to the Hammies line. A couple of phases of pick-up and go and they were over for another try. This plus a penalty meant that the hosts led 17-11 at the interval.
Hammies started the second half as they'd finished the first and it was beginning to look ominous. Another Maties penalty and another Maties try took the score to 25-11 and to all intents and purposes the game was over. Not though for Anton Moolman who could see his way through the bad patch. He replaced Dustin, who, unlike his dominant game last week,  had spent a little too much effort on refereeing the breakdowns instead of quickly clearing the ball from the rucks,  with Liam Slatem. A few other new faces on the park including Ashley Down and Terry Jacobs and Hammies got back onto an even keel. Liam got the backs ticking again, captain Clinton van Rensburg was strong in the middle of the park and our pace on the outside looked threatening if we could get the ball out there.
The first visible sign of a possible miracle was a penalty by Karlo Aspeling. 25-14. Then there was an incident involving Tyrone Holmes and the Maties fullback. The Maties player had already been cautioned but both received the same fate, a red card. A bad injury also saw a long hold up in the play. Hammies battled on, fourteen against fourteen and a fine running move saw Hein Gordon sprint over for a try. The conversion was unsuccessful and the score now 25-19. Time, too quickly, ran away. The stadium clock showed 40 minutes, 41, 42... Hammies were penned in their own 22. Every time we broke out Maties kicked us back. Maties threatened the Hammies line several times and some, including your scribe, whenever Hammies regained the ball or won a penalty on our own line, were praying the we would just kick it upfield so that we at least wouldn't lose the bonus point. The clock ticked on, 43, 44, 45, 46... and still Hammies ran everything and still they were penned in their own 22. The clock read 47, 48....then some wonderful running and handling, Elric off-loading magnificently as he was tackled and there it was, Terry Jacobs running free and diving over under the poles. Karlo converted and the final whistle went.
Maties 25 Hamiltons Sea Point RFC 26!
The refereeing had been iffy but at least he played the extra time warranted by the injuries and hold-ups.
The cliche of victory being snatched from the jaws defeat was never more clearly illustrated than at the Danie Craven Stadium yesterday. But what was so fantastic for Hammies supporters was the way in which it was achieved. Skill yes, and fitness yes, but also amazing self-belief and courage, great leadership from Clint and shrewd management from Anton.
Anyone who travelled to Coetzenburg on Saturday will never forget it. In the words of the inimitable Max Boyce, "I was there!"
To prove it, here's my ticket. Was ever R20 better spent?

v NNK, home, Saturday 16th May 2009
I'm afraid the weather got the better of us and a mixture of torrential rain at times and a gale-force wind on a cold afternoon conspired against us. In a match where we were odds-on to win with a bonus point we only managed to come away with the 4 points for the win. Meanwhile at UCT, Ikeys benefited by postponing their game because of their waterlogged pitch.
As for the match itself? We started with the wind in our favour but could not capitalise in the bad conditions. Scrum half Dustin Jinka missed a penalty attempt and we were locked at 0-0 for quite some time. Finally Dustin got over the line for a try, but again couldn't get the resulting conversion between the poles.
So, we turned around to face the howling wind only 5 points up. NNK were resolute in the second half, but we were more so. Tyrone Holmes scored, this time Karlo Aspeling failed to convert. As the minutes trickled away, Tyrone scored again, giving us hopes of the bonus point. Karlo failed again, but hardly his fault. To give you an idea of the strength of the wind, just before the kick reached the line the wind blew it back, practically over Karlo's head!
Despite an impressive game by Dustin, and good solid games by Clinton Van Rensburg in the centre and Gerhard Voss at No. 8 we were unable to cross again for the bonus point.
Final score..................
Hamiltons 15 NNK 0

v SK Walmers, away, Saturday 9th May 2009
By half time we were 15-7 ahead with a Elric Van Vuuren penalty and 2 tries from Alshaun Bock (magnificent) and Tyrone Holmes, one of which Elric converted. The Walmers try showed how dangerous a missed tackle on a great player can be. After getting past his first man Rylands scooted through the rest of the Hammies side to keep them in touch at half time.
In the second half we put on the pressure. Alshuan scored another good try and Elric made a telling break and stepped the fullback to score under the poles. Hammies rang the changes as the game beacame safe, captain Clinton Van Rensburg and others given a well deserved rest. Two further tries from Francois Prinsloo and Maurice Reid completed the try scoring. There were two conversions in the 2nd half, one by Elric the other by Karlo Aspeling.
Walmers also got a try in the 2nd half and the final score was.....................
SKW 14 Hamiltons 39

v Villager, away, Friday 1st May 2009
Hammies opened the scoring with an Elric van Vuuren penalty, but Villager quickly hit back with an unconverted try when Marais, their left wing seized on a ball that we dropped, well inside their half, and ran around and through the whole Hammies team to score in the corner. They also got two penalties before half-time, but Elric also kicked a couple of penalties and converted one of the two beautifully constructed tries that we scored, one by Maurice Reid, and the other by Elric himself.
Half time:   11-18
In the second half our first time tackling was very poor giving Villager many opportunites that they failed to capitalise upon. If their final passes had reached Marais rather than gone directly into touch we could have been up against it. Eventually though we got it together. Firstly a try from Alshaun Bock who fielded a Villager kick, inside his own half, and ran around the opposition , much the same as Marais had done, and ended up scoring under the posts. Captain Clinton van Rensburg's persistence in the centre, where his strong running repeatedly took two or three tacklers out of the game, finally paid off when he went through the gap for our fourth try and bonus point. Karlo Aspeling jinked his way through the defence for a late try and with Elric converting two of these second half tries the final score was.............................
Villager 11 Hamiltons 37

v Victorians, at home, 25th April 2009.
Another 11-10 victory at home, can you believe it? (Previously beating Durb-Bell in the opening game of the season)
Six-Nil up at half time following a Liaan Scriven drop goal and a penalty from Eric van Vuuren we turned around one man short with scrummie, Vaughn Botha, being yellow-carded shortly before the interval. 
The pressure of 15 against 14 was just too much and Victorians took the lead early in the second half with a converted try. A penalty as well meant that they had a 4 point lead.
Whilst the rugby was not brilliant, maybe due largely to the conditions of a very wet pitch and rain throughout the game, Hammies kept pressing for the 5 points they needed to win.
When the chance came, Alshaun Bock did brilliantly, with no room to work with, to get over in the corner. The game was still far from won, but Hammies held on to the end for the points!

It's hard to decide what sort of a season Hammies are going to have this year.

We played the Derby game against Villagers with much gusto, at home on the 21st of March, and put 60 points on them.
When last did we do that?

Our first league game was at home to Durb-Bell on the 4th April and we scrambled home 11-10. Very worrying result.

On 18th April, our second league fixture against Kraaifontein, away, was a most peculiar game. We started off very poorly making loads of mistakes. Then we started getting into the hang of things and piling on the points. However, in the second half we went to sleep again and let the home side amass 29 points before we pulled ourself together and came back with another flurry of tries. The final score was 29-70 and so I suppose one can't be too harsh on the team, but you need to have been there!

Hamiltons  16  Stellenbosch  18

Sadly..Hammies choked again ! In a game dominated by the Hamiltons forwards and with Hamiltons enjoying more possesion and territorial advantage, Stellenbosch took whatever scraps they could and converted them into points !

Leading 9 - 0 in the first half, the Hamiltons captain inexplicably decided to run 3 penalties given in Stellenbosch's 22 meter area. Stellenbosch responded with a breakaway try after one of these failed runs and then a further try to lead 12 - 9 at halftime. They secured a further 3 points in the second half to lead 15 - 9 and with 3 minutes left to play it looked like it was all over for Hamiltons ...but then a backline move saw them scoring right under the poles !

The converted kick saw the players and spectators rejoicing and celebrating ...but the ref signalled 2 minutes to go. From the kick off Hamiltons infringed and Stellenbosch put over the penalty...18 - 16 to Stellenbosch ...game over...Hamiltons lose again to Stellenbosch !

Hamiltons  45   Villagers    7

Hamiltons  50    Helderberg  8

Playing at Helderberg on Saturday 2nd August 2008, Hamiltons continued there winning streak with an overwhelming victory over Helderberg.

Hamiltons  38     Victorians  6

Hamiltons kept there title hopes on track with a scintillating display of running rugby on Saturday 26th July 2008 against Victorians at Stellenbosch.

Having stamped there superiority in the game early in the first half, Hammies converted a 12 - 3 half time lead to 38 points and in the process helping themselves to 6 tries , four of which were converted. Victorians could only reply with two penalties.

Outstanding amongst the forwards was the captain Jaco Gouws whilst Clinton van Rensberg dominated the backline. Terry Jacobs helped himself to a hat trick of tries.

To see the latest logs, go to www.wpclubrugby.co.za

Hamiltons   79     NNK        13

After having beaten NNK 91-0 in the first half of the season, Hammies kept up the try scoring feast running in 8 trys on Saturday 12th July 2008 at Hammies.

Hamiltons    36     Helderberg    10

Game played at Hammies on Saturday 14th June 2008. Was watching Ireland play South Africa so didnt see the game !!
 

Hamiltons    33     Durb/Bell     3

Hamiltons    91     NNK            0

Hamilton's are going from strength to strength. In this week's league fixture at Noordelikes Northlink Kollege in Parow on Saturday 31st May 2008 they excelled themselves.
After only 5 minutes Anton vd Westhuizen went over for the first try. After 20 minutes he could have had a hat trick. Unluckily he didn't! But after half an hour the team scored their fourth try for a bonus point.

With 5 minutes to half time NNK intercepted and were over in the corner..... nearly. A great tackle from Gerhard Voss saved the day, and Hammies came back at them and scored another try before the interval.
 
Half time score 35-0.
 
The second half was more of the same and what really reflected the Hammies spirit was that despite their dominance in attack, they still tackled like demons to keep the opposition out when they did have their chances.
The increasing scoreline gave us opportuntities to give the bench game time and they contributed lots of points when they did come on.

Everyone played well, as they did last week. The locks were particularly effective throughout the game, giving us a great platform. However it would be churlish not to mention the fantastic contribution made by Jano Van Zyl. He had a great game thoughout. He started out on the left wing, moved into the centre and played the second half at fullback. He finished the game with with 3 tries under his belt and also converted every try. 13 out of 13, 41 points in the match! This must be some sort of club record surely?
 
Final score, 91 - 0.  What a game! What a team!

Hamiltons    43     Villagers     6

The first league fixture against Villagers this year went even better than the pre-season "Derby Day" friendly at Brookside. This time, at home, we never looked as if we would lose our early advantage.

It was one of those games where the whole team, including the substitutes that were brought on, played well from start to finish. By half time the game was to all intents and purposes over, unless Hamiltons really collapsed and maybe had three simultaneous red cards. That was never going to happen.

The Hammies forwards dominated up front and also looked very mobile with ball in hand. The backs moved the ball quickly along the line and played rugby that was not only effective but also delightful to watch. This was the sort of rugby that wins titles and consolidates our position behind Maties, who are certainly beatable, as we saw at Newlands and as UCT showed last week in their narrow defeat.

 Another plus for the supporters was to see the bonus point come early in the game. They were well worth the 43-11 scoreline.

Roll on next week!

To see the latest WP logs go to www.wpclubrugby.co.za

Hamiltons  20     Stellenbosch  26

A sad day. The first loss. Playing the Curtain Raiser to the WP game at Newlands on Saturday 3rd May 2008, the Hamiltons backs gave a sterling display but were unfortunately let down by there forwards who for the first time looked second best on the field. Although two players were called up for WP duties, this was no excuse for there tired looking play. Stellenbosch scored 4 unconverted tries and 2 penalties thereby collecting a bonus point whilst Hammies managed two converted tries and two penalties thereby also scoring a bonus point .

Hamiltons  50     Tygerberg  12

The Hamiltons 1st XV concluded a convincing victory over Tygerberg by 50 points to 8 in a night game played at Hamiltons on Friday 25th April 2008. The 50 points included 8 tries. Tygerberg managed 4 penalties in reply. This is the third successive game for Hamiltons where they have not conceded a try. The win propels them to 2nd in the log 2 points behind Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch have played the same number of games and are also unbeaten but gained an extra 2 bonus points in their earlier games.

Hamiltons  30      UCT 18

Playing under lights at 9.00pm on a Friday night 18th April 2008 away against UCT , the Hammies 1st XV continued on there winning way with a calculated victory over an energetic Varsity side.

From the kick off Hammies showed there metal and were up by 3 points within seconds. The UCT students responded and were awarded one of many penalties in front of the poles to make it 3 all. The Hamiltons pack reacted to this and were rewarded with a converted try before the ref stepped in and awarded a further 2 penalties in front of the poles to UCT which they duly took making it 10-9 at the break.

Hammies went to sleep for a period after half time and although scoring a second  unconverted try were at the referees mercy and the game was evenly poised with UCT retaining possesion and their backs launching striking runs which were only thwarted through excellent defence by the Hammies players. Very worryingly Hammies conceded a further 2 penalties for Varsity to level the score at 15-15. A further penalty pushed us ahead but UCT were for the 6th time awarded a penalty in front of the poles which they took levelling the score at 18-18.

At this stage Hammies coach Johan Lerm brought on his substitutes and with Robbie Tilsen coming on at hooker the impact was felt immediately and a spark was ignited amongst the forwards with Hammies camping in the UCT half for the last 15 minutes of the game.  A converted try eased the tension amongst the supporters and then with 3 minutes to go a further converted try sealed the victory along with a bonus point for the 4th try !

 Hamiltons   24    Victorians   6

On a blustery autumn Friday evening 11th April 2008 in front of a sizable crowd, there was an anticipation to this game, as much to observe any notable improvement in Hammies play from the previous week, as there was to reverse last seasons narrow loss to this same opposition.

Excitement however was not the order of the day as both sides sparred with each other with numerous barging forward runs, grubber kicks and up and unders which generated mixed results. Although both sides were penalised for ongoing infringements, it was only the resulting penalties vua the trusty boot of Jano van Zyl that saw Hammies convert steady pressure to points.

The half time score was 14-6 with Hammies having probably a more successful back line of the two , offering a rugged defense and greater handling skills. Vic's inexplicably seemed often at a loss to select the correct option,rarely threatening and belied there status as a running side.

The turn around saw the two packs continue as they left off, both seeking to dominate each other and with such aggressive competition it was no surprise to see Hammies captain Jaco Gouws sin binned.

With 20 minutes to go the Hammies substitutions injected some much needed life into the game with particular reference to an energised front row. A real forwards try converted and this followed by a penalty sealed the game for the host team 24-6.

Although 3 yellow cards were issued, the game although robust was played in good spirit. For Hammies both the 1st choice and substitute scrumhalves and centre Van As were key to the result. Scorers for Hammies were a try each to Paul Roux and Gerhard Voss, 1 conversion to Jaco Weideman with Jano van Zyl and Koos Eksteen sharing the penalties.

Hamiltons    20   Schotcheskloof Walmers 8

In the first league game of the season played at SK Walmers on Saturday 5th April 2008, the Hamiltons 1st XV dominated there opponents and scored a well deserved 20 - 8 victory.

Playing in slightly breezy conditions, the Hammies forwards set the tone for the game and had there counterparts on the back foot , maintaining possesion and camping in SK Walmers territory for extended periods with ex Springbok Johan Ackerman and ex Sharks player Jaco Gouws dominating. Two penalties to Hammies were missed but Hammies  kept the pressure up and were rewarded when with the ball being whipped down the line, a kick ahead saw a chase to the ball being won by the speedy Hammies centre Pierre Cronje who dotted down. The try was converted and Hammies led 7-0.

At this stage SK Walmers fought a mini fight back and came close to scoring, however , tenacious tackling and good positional play thwarted there attempts. With half time threatening, Hammies, playing a structurally correct game drove the ball deep into the oppositions half. A scrum to Hammies insued and a lightening break round the blind by the scrumhalf saw our speedy wing Richard Lawson running around his opposite number to score underneath the poles.

The score remained 14-0 for some time before SK Walmers converted a penalty. Hammies then converted two more penalties with SK Walmers scoring an unconverted try with the final whistle sounding at 20-8.

The striking difference in previous Hammies peformances was the clinical and structural manner of the Hammies play. The much vaunted "Strong Man" pack of SK Walmers were never allowed into the game and the backs looked dangerous everytime they ran the ball. The scoreline suggests a close game, however Hammies could quite easily have ended up with a further 20 points!

The after match celebrations continued late into the night at Hammies pub, with the Chairman generously donating an open bar for the whole night !

Hamiltons 1st XV 17  Durb-Bell -1st XV  7

Hamiltons 1st Xv played a friendly against Durb Bell at Bellville on Wednesday 26th March. It was an experimental side from Hammies point of view, with 8 key players being rested . The Under 20 scrumhalf was given a run for he whole of the second half. In spite of this Hammies managed to emerge victorius with a 17 - 7 victory. A lot of injuries unfortunately occurred on the night with the worst reportedly being Ashley Downs who apparently has a broken arm !

HAMILTONS 34        VILLAGERS  26

In a game played in very windy conditions at Brookside, Hamiltons scored a decisive victory over Villagers. At half time the score was 19 -10 in Villagers favour but having played with the wind in the first half , Villagers now had to play against it in the second. Although the scoreline suggests a close game, there was never any doubt that Hamiltons would win and indeed the tries that Villagers scored were due to poor tackling by Hammies which on 3 occasions saw the Villagers run the full length of the field to score. With Hammies dominating up front thanks to their monster pack, they camped in the Villagers half of the field for most of the game. The Villagers backs were enterprising and ran the ball at every opportunity but could not sustain the relentless pressure of the Hamiltons forwards.

Although a good win, Hammies still have a lot to do in getting to grips with the new laws.

It was a clean sweep for Hamiltons with all sides from Under 20's through to First team all winning their matches.

In the Old Crocks, Paddy Greenacre (now 67) turned out for his 51st Derby against Villagers, although he was not the oldest on the field with Dennis Nick of Villagers still playing at 73 years old !