LSA Shield XV vx Basingstoke

10 March 2007

The London South Africa RFC (LSA) Shield XV played Basingstoke at their homeground, Imber Court, on Saturday in a spirited match that ultimately went the opposition’s way by 12-24. The first half was closely contested, bringing the score to 7-7 by half-time. Going into the second half, LSA continued to play with a lot of heart against what was clearly a well-oiled side, whose excellent inside centre proved devastating. But lack of fitness on LSA’s side began to take its toll and Basingstoke were able to pull away in the last 20 minutes, closing out the match with two more tries. There were many good individual performances, and particular mention goes to Sam Gulliver at no 8 whose performance reflected a good work ethic around the park. Also, as the dependable fly-half, Jarred Vok, went off injured, his replacement Iaan Henn, put in an excellent performance at no 10.

The Shield XV play in the Canterbury Shield Division Three, which offers a good level of competition from many of the South-East’s well-established clubs. With LSA’s Surrey XV progressing well through the Surrey One League towards their end-season goal of promotion into the London leagues, the club is equally focused on developing their Shield side. The introduction of a team manager, Nick Stein, will give crucial support to the team alongside coach Dries van Rensburg; while a number of new player recruits have reinforced the side. According to Stein, “the new guys that came down fitted in well as they adapted to the LSA style of open rugby. Our individual skills are good and we will continue to work on our style of play.” Reflecting on the club’s latest developments, UK director Justin Paige said, “we are really pleased to welcome Nick on board in his new role. This coming weekend is what the club is all about with both teams eagerly facing important fixtures: the Shield XV at home against Barnes and the Surrey XV away against Kingston”.

LSA Shield XV:

Aldo du Plesses, Gerrie Kruger, AK Southey, Carel Frick, Christian van Rooyen, Gerritt de Waal, Quinton van Zyl, Sam Gulliver, Dirk Wolfaard, Jared Vok, Nigel Bain, Neil Posthumus, Iaan Henn, Grant Bez, Blake van de Linde, Augustus Grenling, Heindrig, Owen Joseph.