Friday the 18th of October saw the SARL Rhino’s taking in a strong New South Wales Country League team, still on a high from their victory over the Combined Clubs the previous Saturday. The game was hosted by the Bears at Bosman Stadium and the stadium and Lield was in excellent condition as both teams took to the Lield for this historic match. The game started at pace and Live minutes in the match, the trend as set as Brad Scott went over for the Lirst of his many points, although the rest came from conversions. The physicality was immense, but the Rhino’s kept on making mistakes at the tackle area and was severely penalized by French match ofLicial Stephane Vincent. These penalties cost them dearly and in quick succession both Jason Raper and Tim Smith went over for tries. The Rhino’s staged a strong comeback and was camped on the opposition tryline but could not convert their dominance into points. A strong run by captain Jamie Feeney saw the New South Wales team back in the Rhino’s half and frustration led to a yellow card for Fritz van Heerden for repeated infringements by the team. A man down, the Rhino’s felt the loss as New South Wales crashed over for three tries as Jason Raper and Tim Smith scored their second tries, and Simon Williams added his name to the score board. The Rhino’s did manage to score a try through Hans du Plessis against the run of play, and Hein Oliver slotted the conversion easily. Just before half time Jean-Di Oosthuizen scored a great try bu bursting through the middle, and after a Hein Olivier conversion the score was 32 for NSW< and 12 for the Rhino’s going into half time. Coach Barnhill must have said something to the New South Wales team as they came charging in the second half, and although the Rhino’s defended like mad, they kept on giving away penalties. Jason Raper went over for his third try to secure the hat trick, and a lapse in concentration saw Ben McAlpine cross the tryline three times on the far side. Captain Jamie Feeney scored a great try, and Shaune Bouwer scored the only try for the Rhino’s in the second half. The Linal score of 58 to 18 is a good reLlection of the game as the Rhino’s just conceded too many penalties, and their inexperience showed. The New South Wales team was allowed numerous opportunities to run at the Rhino’s and this resulted in tries. Both captains were in agreement that it was a hard game, and well-played and expressed a keen interest to have a rematch soon in Australia.