A look at the Pietersburg Rugby Club

The Pietersburg Rugby Club plays in the Far North league of the Blue Bulls in South Africa's Northern Province.

The league runs from late March to late August.

Pietersburg played their first game against Letaba on March 31st, and finished the season against Noordelikes, another Pietersburg side, on August 11th.

Thereafter, the Union's playoffs will take place, with the semifinals and the final being played on August 18th and 25th, respectively. Sub-Union or select-side games, will be played by the Far North Senior and Under 21 teams on September 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd against opponents who will include the Northern Province Blue Bulls, who are based in Pretosia. The Blue Bulls Rugby Union takes care of rugby in the Northern Province and parts of Gauteng Province, where Pretoria lies.

Pietersburg's First XV have maintained a winning tradition and sit on top of their league, the Senior Far North Senior First Division. By July 7th, Pietersburg had played 11 games, won seven and lost four, including a defeat to the University of Pretoria in an extra-mural game. That game was used to determine whether Pietersburg would pip the Carlton Cup side to advance to the National Club Championships held in Durban at the end of June.

The Carlton Cup had previously encompassed both Pretoria and Far North sides, but was split up at the beginning of Season 2001. The teams in the two regions now play in separate leagues, the Pretoria sides retaining the old name of the competition and modifying it to "Carlton Pretoria."

Pietersburg began their campaign with a 33-18 win over Letaba on March 31st, collecting a maximum five league points, including a bonus point for scoring at least four tries, a trend they were to continue for the remainder of the first round of matches.

Wins against Phalaborwa, 31-15, Louis Trichardt, 36-19, Messina, 43-9, Hoedspruit, 35-0 and Noordelikes, 77-3, were to follow. The only blemish on this near-perfect record was a 10-13 loss to Potgeitersrus by a painfully conceded dropped goal in injusry time.

The second round started with a 32-15 win over Letaba but the tide turned at Phalaborwa on June 30th with a 17-32 loss, where a one-point deficit was turned into a 14-point gap in the last 10 minutes. Evidently the team was feeling the effects of injuries to their big man and other key players, including Richard Nyakwaka, a lock from Kenya, and Patrick Cahill a dependable winger. Another Kenyan import, Peter Okila, was making an impact as both a flanker and a winger on both the Second and Third XV's.

A one point loss to Louis Trichardt at home the following weekend, sent the first team into a period of soul-searching and improvement to iron out the creases that made them lose two crunch matches at the height of the season.

On July 21st, Messina forfeited their match in Pietersburg. Plagued by injuries and a revitalised,Pietersburg took the field in Hoedspruit the next weekend, beating the home team 34-5. On August 4th, Pietersburg faced their old nemesis, Potgeitersrus, at home and walked away with a comfortable 18-10 victory.

The match at Noordelikes' home pitch on August 11th is the curtain call to what has been a good season, and if the results are anything to go by, may seal Pietersburg's fate as the Far North team to join Carlton Pretoria next season.