Border rue missed chances, poor discipline in Boland loss

If there was a perfect fit for the phrase “being an enemy of your own downfall” it was Border’s 34-20 loss against Boland in their second game of the U18 Craven Week at Hoërskool Monument in Krugersdorp on Wednesday.

Their undoing, especially in the second half, was due to their ill-discipline, inadequate defence and the lack of a killer instinct when closer to the Boland line.

Having lost on the opening day to neighbours Eastern Province, Lwazi Zangqa’s charges were adamant about making a statement against their counterparts from the Winelands.

But their struggles were real from the onset with Boland scrumhalf Llewellyn Fransman issuing the first blow while dazzling his way over the whitewash.

Border quickly answered with a three-pointer.

Hard running outside back Jed Stone again proved why he was instrumental in Queens College’s success during the school season.

Stone draws comparisons to Springbok centre Damien De Allende when he is in motion and he cut the Boland backline in half shrugging off defenders on his way to the line.

Momentum swung in Border’s direction after Stone’s score.

With Border piling on the pressure, handling errors crept in as they forced matters on the attack, making unnecessary offloads.

Another Queenian, Mveli Mquqo, took advantage of the unsettled men from Western Cape and pounced on a wayward kick made by the opposition.

With Boland flat in both attack and defence, their skipper Luan Giliomee picked up the pieces and answered with a try.

That was followed by another one from winger Benedict George at the brink of halftime, giving Boland a 22-17 lead.

Border immediately started the second stanza off the back foot after Thina Fenako was yellow carded for continuous penalties inside their 22m, joining Mbasa Mda in the sin bin, who had received his marching orders late in the first half.

Though they had a two-man deficit, Border picked up the tempo and were the likely side of the two to score, but were let down by poor game management when inside Boland’s territory.

This saw Boland eighthman Martin van der Westhuizen cross over the try line to stretch the lead to 27-17 with 10 minutes remaining.

Border kicked over a penalty with two minutes left, seemingly settling on trying for a possible draw instead of a win.

But another series of errors from Border saw George du Plessis put the final nail in the coffin.

This means Border will have their worst finish in the past three editions where they won more than 50% of their games in the country’s oldest junior competition.

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