Wake-up call after Crusaders outclassed

Mkhululi Ndamase

PROGRESS ran in four tries against Caltex Crusaders to claim an easy 27-13 victory in their Group B Eastern Cape Super 12 club rugby encounter at Andrew Rabie High School at the weekend.

This was a second consecutive win for Progress, while Saders were given a wake-up call after they won their opening game last weekend.

The game started slowly with few chances created by either side, but it was last year's finalists who led 13-3 after 40 minutes.

In the second half, the floodgates opened with the visitors running away with the game, with try after try.

Saders, who managed to beat Progress in Uitenhage last season, have no one to blame but themselves as they committed several handling errors whenever they gained a little momentum.

The hosts just could not get going and were severely punished by the determined Uitenhage outfit.

In Group A, Gardens stunned Kruisfontein 27-16 at the Humansdorp Country Club. Gardens attacked from the first whistle and were rewarded with two quick tries in the first 10 minutes of the game.

That unsettled the hosts who tried to reduce the margin but it was Gardens who went to the break leading 14-3.

After the break, the visitors did not rest and continued where they left off.

Kruisfontein started getting desperate and ran the ball from their own half, making things easy for Gardens who managed to increase their lead.

Gardens produced a better performance than they did in their first game against Walter Sisulu University.

Perhaps they need to be tested against seasoned campaigners to rise to the occasion.

They brought Kruisfontein crashing down to earth after the hosts beat African Bombers in their first game.

Determined to prove their victory against Bombers was not a fluke, the Humansdorp outfit kept piling on the pressure and managed to get two brilliant tries late in the game, but it was a little too late to stage a comeback.