The Fidelity Security Moor Cup season got off to a fine start on Saturday afternoon with all eight Premier Divsion clubs in action at the Growthpoint KINGS PARK outer fields. The festival of rugby kicked off with two entertaining games: the league's newcomers Amanzimtoti comfortably defeated FNB Ukzn Impi 40-7, claiming a bonus point in the process. They served notice that they are going to be very competitive against the so called stronger teams later on in the campaign.

The other early kick off saw Varsity College RFC overcoming Ricoh Motswako PMB Collegians 31-10. The first half was tightly contested with only two points separating the two teams as Varsity took a 12-10 lead. They gradually took control of the second half and began to assert their authority scoring a total of five tries, among the try scorers were backline players Kayde Fisher, Wion Robertse, Darren Snyman, Edward Wiggill and foward Dewet Botha. Pmb Collegian's try came via Cyle Muil.

The day's most anticipated game saw SA Home Loans Durban Collegians tackle Nashua Durban Crusaders. Collegians eventually triumphed 26-3 but they were given a tough match with the final scoreline not reflecting the even nature of the game. Collegians made the breakthrough 10 minutes before the interval with a smart try from fullback Dylan Aylward. Crusaders hit back with a penalty to trail 5-3 at half time.

The turning point in the game came within a five minute spell midway through the second half as Crusaders lost two of their loose forwards to yellow cards. They showed resilience and had a glorious chance to grab the lead against 13 men, but flyhalf Cameron Dunlop spurned the opportunity by missing a penalty. The match remained on a knife's edge right until the last five minutes when Collegians went on a three-try scoring blitz with winger Kyle Hartley, centre Keelin Bastew and foward Brendon Groenewald getting on the scoresheet. The bonus point victory was slight flattering for them. Collegians coach Robin Swanepoel breathed a sigh of relief after the match and was happy to come away with maximum points. "It was an incredibly tight game right until the end," he said. "We just had to stick to our game plan. We anticipated a tough game and that is exactly what we got. Crusaders were very hungry and they stuck with us right until the last few minutes of the match. Overall though, I am well pleased with the victory."

Crusaders coach Ronnie Uys was gracious in defeat and said that they will bounce back. "Collegians used their chances well and put us away in the last 5 minutes," he remarked. "We gave them a scare for sure. We will bounce back and continue to improve. We can take a lot of heart out of this game against one of the heavyweight teams in the division."

In the final game, the defending Moor Cup champions Jonnson College Rovers sent out a statement of intent as they demolished Zululand Rhinos 50-3 with a second string team. Rovers rested most of their first 15 as they are involved in the Cell C Community Cup. Among their try scorers were Jason Kankowski (younger brother of Sharks incumbent Ryan), Andreas Molnar, Matt Phillips and Jake Adam who grabbed two.

Ismail Adam