Long serving Hammies centre Dan Mackenzie really does enjoy a home a fixture and on Saturday it showed as he produced yet again for the 3rds with no less than 4 tries in a single match.
This is not the first time we have seen Dan with a nose for the try line, but this past week against Tygerberg he was a bulldozer personified and at his very best. Well played man of the match Dan!
In a superb 1st half, Mackenzie benefited from plenty of front foot ball set up by some excellent work from our impressive back row. The consistent James Language missing this week due a injury saw Mike Joni return to 3rd team starting action and put in a huge 1st half performance. Tragically and very frustratingly for Mike he received a red card from the kick off of the 2nd half and may now need to spend more time on the sidelines with a looming compulsory suspension after tackling an opposition player in the air.
His flank partner Raymond Finkel too is impressing the coaches each weak and has terrific balance and foot work to go with power and off load ability that could see him pressing for higher honors quite soon.
The highlight of the 1st half had to be the involvement of the mercurial Hugo Swart who managed just 30 minutes due to a bout of flu. But what a contribution he made in that time!!. How Hugo is still playing in the 3rd team is beyond me, but such is the depth at Hammies this season that quality players in our group have to be patient and wait for their chances to play higher up. The try he set up for Ben Hoekstra and then scoring himself were 2 of the finest moments of magic this season and had the bench, gallery and pub on their feet!
Tygerberg were no push over but Hammies kept the pressure up and kept busting out of tackles and thereafter well timed passes were all going to hand with support runners on great lines – it really was great watch, well played guys . What was also really pleasing to see in that first half was the speed and accuracy of the finishing. Signs of a maturing team with good decision makers taking charge. Half backs Anthony Small and Tristan Cramer are running the show well and must again take credit for handling the pressure and then getting the team into the right areas to attack space.
Hammies raced out to a 39 – 0 lead at Half time and the contest was effectively over. Sadly, so to was the spectacle, as the 2nd half deteriorated rapidly with poor discipline from both sides and multiple yellow and a red card for both teams.
Our side has terrific team spirit and unity at the moment, however we still have not managed to understand the referees interpretations mostly at the breakdown where we seem to be either far to eager or to slow to react. On Saturday we were heavily penalized in that second half and my hope is that we as a group understand that we will not win big games by conceding that many unnecessary penalties.. Another area to improve is the goal kicking which was below par on Saturday.
The coaches are very proud of the group and the attitude of the players is first class.
I believe this team still has another gear {possibly two} left in the tank before we see the complete performance against stronger opposition to come
Final Score
Hammies 3rd XV 57 – Tygerberg 3rd XV 7
Try scorers
Dan Mackenzie * 4
Ben Hoekstra
Ivan Kuntz
Mike Joni
Hugo Swartz
Lutho Kote
Conversions:
Tristan Cramer *2
Anthony Small *2