via Malta Rugby League Facebook Page

​24-6 down at half time, Malta left their comeback too late with South Africa holding on for a 30-24 victory at St Marys yesterday afternoon. 

A tough passionate performance by both teams with big contact and end to end action.

Malta officials whilst disappointed with the result, were impressed with the outstanding debuts from the Cronin brothers Peter and Jesse.

The Rhinos are very chuffed in the feat that they Ranked 34 beat a team that Ranked 18th. 

After the match, Rhinos head coach,Jon Wilson said that he was extremely  proud of his players for the effort they put in and the passion and tenacity that they showed out on the field. He also mentioned the great support he received   from Assistant  coach Isaac Thomas and the rest of the coaching staff. Wilson said it was the best win he has been involved in , in his four years with the Rhinos .

The Rhinos lost two players for the match in the first half,being Wicus Boshoff (ankle 4th minute) and Byron Hutchinson , ruled out with HIA concussion  at half time. 

In addition  to this, Seth Buckley (hamstring) and Chelsea Michael Adams  (shoulder) shouldn't  have returned but with no other options both players returned and  toughed it out.

With the Rhinos  having only one player on the bench for 2nd half ,the forwards played the house down with the  entire pack playing big minutes.

South Africa's scrambling defence got them over the line in front of a fast finishing Malta.
Malta  were a tough, well drilled side that never gave up which was evident till the final whistle .

Africa United U18s showed their continued improvement,  narrowly going down to Malta U18s in the earlier match Unavailable for the match were Rhinos regular starting  prop,Shane Gillham  (knee) Tweed Heads Seagulls, Mitchell Frei (Wynnum Seagulls), Brendan  Frei (Wyong Roos ), 
Jackson Frei (Wyong  Roos), Kamren Cryer (Blacktown Workers ),Coby Thomas(Roosters ) and Eddie Proudler  ( South Perth).

The South  African players and management  would like to thank Malta  for the match and wish them  all the best in their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
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Rhinos Tries: Juan Benadie, Byron Hutchinson, Will Smith, Darren O'Donovan, Jason King

Malta Tries: Zach Borg, Cameron Mazzelli, Jono Dallas 2
Malta Goals: Nathan Benson 4/4

View the 1st Half HERE
View the 2nd Half HERE

This year’s International Representative weekend will feature the inaugural clash between the South African Rhinos and the Malta Knights in a test that Rhinos coach Jon Wilson describes as being about “building our talent pool up.”​

The Rhinos will have a strong Queensland flavour, featuring Tweed Heads Seagulls prop Shane Gillham, Halvor Harris (Lock, Townsville), Ashley Bull (Second row, Cairns), Jason King (Hooker, Emerald Cowboys), Byron Hutchinson Centre, Runaway Bay) and Andre-Carl Joubert (Five Eighth, Springsure Mountain Men) as well as former Queensland based players Brendan and Jackson Frei.
South Africa’s long-term aim is to increase their international ranking points (they are currently ranked 35th) and push for World Cup qualification, however this test is about bringing the team together, establishing a culture and getting an idea of where they sit compared to a more established and experienced side like Malta, who are currently ranked 17th.

“We want to keep this group together and hopefully get them playing more regularly, perhaps with annual fixtures” Wilson said “We’ve picked a fairly hard first up test for this group, Malta have been together a long time and have a large talent pool of players playing at a high level” he said.
One of the key people in building that culture is former Ipswich Jet and Brisbane Bronco Gideon Mzembe. Mzembe, who has previously played for South Africa is the teams’ strength and conditioning coach and described representing his homeland as an honour. “My grandmother grew up in the apartheid era, it is truly an honour to represent South Africa, for all the people from those generations that never got the chance.” He said.
The Rhinos is a heritage team, with the majority the players having been born in South Africa before emigrating to Australia. It is one of the strongest South African sides assembled. Previous Rhinos sides have been picked from players playing in South African competitions, whereas this squad consists of players with plenty of A Grade, under 20’s, Intrust Super Cup and Intrust Super Premiership experience.
As well as the Queensland contingent the side will include five players from NSW, five from Western Australia, one from New Zealand and two (Marcelle Viljoen and Zach Van Loggerenber) who will fly over from South Africa.
The test is being played on Sunday 24th of June at St Marys Rugby League stadium and will be live streamed. Go to the South African Rugby League Heritage Association Facebook page or the Malta Rugby League page for details of the stream.

Sun June 24
St Marys Stadium ,  Sydney ,  Kick off -  3 pm Australia    - 7 am South Africa
 
With just over two weeks to go ,final preparations are being put in place for the South Africa  v Malta  test match in Sydney Australia on June 24.

The South Africa side is made up primarily of South African heritage players in Australia ,with two domestic players from South Africa and one from New Zealand.
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Players in Australia are from Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia.
A special mention to the two South African players ,Marcelle Viljoen and Zach Van Loggerenberg who were identified by South African Rugby League (SARL) selectors for outstanding performances in recent matches
 
Curtain raisers on the day are Africa United U-18s v Malta u-18s at 11pm. Africa United is made up of players  throughout Africa. This is followed by QLD Universities v NSW Universities at
1 pm .QLD and NSW will play for the  Tas Baitieri shield.

After the Universities match an Australian Universities side will be selected to tour South Africa in late October this year .The day has a real African feel about it and we encourage  South Africans and people from all  African nations  to get out to the game and support rugby league and your country.
 
Due to South Africa’s rugby league isolation ,the SARL formed a division within their structures,  the South African Rugby League Heritage Association (SARLHA) where the South African side will play test matches in Australia , New Zealand etc using  players born in South Africa and with South African heritage. With Australia being so multicultural there is an abundance of International sides to play  that use  heritage players.

With rugby league being a major sport in Australia, International matches between over seas countries gives great exposure and  can be played a lot more regularly and at a much cheaper cost to the National bodies in regards to international airfares and accommodation.
 
Also these International matches are played with Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) world ranking points on offer to improve the countries overall ranking which leads to much more exposure in regards to the media, a dedicated  fan base and will build great  sponsor relationships in Australia and South Africa.

This is why we see many small nations with an above average world ranking as they are playing regular matches in Australia using their heritage players. The SARLHA is dedicated to growing the South African Rhinos brand name around the world by playing more regular test matches leading to a  much improved RLIF world ranking that will have more international sides wanting to tour  South Africa . With such a large amount of South Africans raising their families in Australia today ,the SARLHA will play their part to develop a pathway for South African juniors  to want to play rugby league and aspire to play in the National Rugby League (NRL) and ultimately for South Africa 
This allows the SARL to focus on incoming International tours ,playing tests against other African nations and building a stronger South African domestic competition that will greatly  strengthen the Rhinos .
 
It was not that long ago that South Africa was the only African nation to play rugby league. Today we have Ethiopia ,Ghana, Kenya, Burundi, Nigeria, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, and the DRC Congo developing and playing the game. With South Africa the only national side to have full membership status ,the RLIF see the SARL as the “big brother type nation” to assist in developing the game with these nations in playing matches , coaching clinics etc 
Lastly, by forming strong sponsorship relationships it will eventually lead to flying the  most talented, skilful and  hard working Rhinos from the SARL competition to  Australia for test matches and to send the best heritage players to South Africa for important matches such as for the world cup qualifying matches in October 2019 .
Our opposition for the two matches will be the 7th placed Asia Pacific nation and the 3rd placed Americas nation.
In playing these matches the SARL will need the best players ,coaches and support staff on deck to give them the best possible chance of qualifying for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup   in England
 
South African  squad :
 
Benadie, Juan                            New Zealand
Boshoff, Willem                        Perth, Australia
Buckley, Seth                             Sydney, Australia
Bull, Ashley                                Brisbane, Australia
De Vries, Bevin                          Sydney, Australia
Frei, Brendan                             Sydney, Australia
Frei, Jackson                               Sydney, Australia
Gillham, Shane                           Gold Coast, Australia
Harris, Halvor                             Townsville, Australia
Hutchinson, Byron                     Gold Coast, Australia
King, Jason                                   Emerald, Australia
Louw, Johan                                 Perth, Australia
Luyke Jnr, Eugene                       Brisbane, Australia
Mzembe, Gideon                        Brisbane, Australia
Smith, Devyn                                Ipswich, Australia
Smith, Jean-Charl                        Perth, Australia
Smith Jnr, Willem                        Perth, Australia
Thomas, Tyler                               Perth, Australia
Tubbs, Joel                                    Sydney, Australia
Van Loggerenberg, Zach            Johannesburg, South Africa
Viljoen, Marcelle                         Johannesburg, South Africa