Three in a Row for Unam [Namibian] FNB Unam underlined their dominance of women's rugby when they won the cup for the third year in a row on Saturday. They ran in nine tries to post a comprehensive 57-17 win against Trustco United, with fullback Ivonne Kooper the star of the show, scoring four tries.

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Unam pipped to the post in dramatic run-in  FNB Unam lost the battle for a semifinal place in the Namibia Rugby Premier League after losing a thriller 40-39 to FNB Kudus on Saturday.  With Trustco United beating FNB Dolphins 59-28 at Swakopmund, and FNB Grootfontein beating FNB Rehoboth 41-39 at home, they secured the final two semifinal spots and will now join FNB Wanderers and Kudus in next weekend’s semifinals.  Kudus had already qualified for the semifinals, but they surprised Unam with an impassioned performance at the Hage Geingob Stadium on Saturday.  They took an early lead when left wing Lucio Isaacs dived over in the corner with Rayshown Schoombe converting, and despte Aljarreau Zaahl opening Unam’s account with a penalty, Kudus kept on attacking and went 14-3 ahead when Isaacs went over for his second try.  Unam suffered a setback when their captain Rowan Jansen was stretchered off after a forward collision but they fought back bravely and reduced the gap to 14-10 when flanker Viery Haufiku went over for a converted try.  Kudus eighthman Ja-Tamson van der Berg, however, crashed over from a maul and with Shoombe adding the conversion they went into halftime with a 21-10 lead.  Unam came out firing after the break, with Duhan Bezuidenhout going over from a maul, and when Brandon Dentlinger turned on the pace to touch down, they were finally in the lead at 22-21. Zaahl missed Dentlinger’s conversion, hitting the post, and two more conversion attempts that hit the post ultimately proved costly.  Tries at either end by Kudus centre Justin Newman and Isaacs’ third, and Zaahl and Dentlinger for Unam put Kudus 33-32 ahead, before Kudus winger Aston Muukwilongo turned on the pace to go over and with Shoombe converting they went 40-32 ahead.  Unam struck back with a late try by Shaun van Wyk, converted by Delron Brandt, but it was not enough as Kudus held on for a dramatic win.  The defeat put an end to Unam’s semifinal hopes, but Alcino Isaacs, who took over the captaincy from Jansen, was a gracious loser.  “It was a very tough game, but congrats to Kudus, they really came out firing. They put their hands on our throats, but congrats to my boys, we stuck in it the whole 80 minutes and I think the crowd enjoyed one hell of a game.” “I must say we were definitely surprised by Kudus’ onslaught. We thought they would be gassed in the second half, but the boys wouldn’t stop. They stayed in the fight and I guess we just couldn’t get that final blow in,” he added.  Isaacs said it was a bitter pill to swallow.  “It’s a tough one. It’s been years since Unam didnt make a semifinal. I guess it’s a learning stage for us again, so we just need to regroup and build from this,” he said. Kudus eighthman Ja-Tamson van der Bergh congratulated his team mates on a great performance.  “I want to say thank you to all the fans who came out to support us today. It  wasn’t easy, Unam pitched up today, they wanted a place in the semifinals, but it didn’t go their way and I think our boys did a great job,” he said.  Kudus will now face Grootfontein in next weekend’s semifinal and Van der Berg said they are highly motivated.   “We are very positive, I think this is Kudus’ year. We’re going to go out with everything we’ve got and give it our best shot.” Grootfontein secured their semifinal spot after a thrilling 41-39 win against Rehoboth on their home turf.  They got maximum bonus points after scoring seven tries through Lorenzo Louis, Rudi Pretorius, Dhaamin Bassardien, Johan Luttig, Oliver Mouton, Wicus Jacobs and Nelius Theron, while Pretorius added three conversions.  For Rehoboth, Miquel Busch scored three tries, and Dolano Vries and Keynnen Basson one each, while Franklin Busch added four conversions and two penalties.  United also got maximum bonus points after scoring nine tries in their 59-28 win against Dolphins. Captain JD Nel scored three, and Jandre Esterhuizen, Keenan Januarie, DJ Holtzhausen, Dandre Schreuder, Thehard Lintvelt and Enrique Husselmann one each, while Husselmann added seven conversions for a personal tally of 19 points.  Dolphins scored four tries through Jerome Schumann (two), Cameron Marcus and Sheiton Besser, while Sammy Poulton converted all four.  Wanderers, meanwhile, completed an unbeaten league season with an impressive 78-21 victory againsty Suburbs. Their captain Danco Burger had a field day scoring three tries and seven conversions for a personal tally of 29 points, while Jurgen Meyer scored four tries, Tareekuye Tjipute two, and Nandivatu Karuuombe, Joe Losper and JP Campbell one each, while Johnny Mwenyo added two conversions.  For Suburbs, Simon Gosscky scored two tries and Richard Mupewa one, with Geraldo Beukes converting all three.  The post Unam pipped to the post in dramatic run-in  appeared first on The Namibian.

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Rugby semis race wide open  A last-gasp drop goal by Delron Brandt gave FNB Unam a dramatic 33-32 victory against Trustco United in the Namibia Rugby Premier League on Saturday and threw the race for a place in the semifinals wide open. The result put Unam third on the log on 21 points, just ahead of Grootfontein (21) on points aggregate, and United (20), and with one round remaining, the battle for the semis is now destined to go down to the wire.  FNB Western Suburbs (17 points) and FNB Rehoboth (16) also kept heir faint knockout hopes alive with victories on Saturday, but it’s highly unlikely that they will progress.  At the United field, United and Unam produced a thriller as fortunes swayed back and forth throughout a gripping contest.  United outscored Unam by four tries to three, but conceded too many penalties and Unam fullback Aljarreau Zaahl made them pay, scoring 15 points with the boot, as well as a great counter-attacking try for a personal tally of 20 points. Unam took an early 6-0 lead after two Zaahl penalties, but United came storming back and took the lead when captain JD Nel finished off a counter-attack by the hardworking Thehard Lintvelt, with Enrique Husselmann adding the conversion.  United went 14-6 ahead through a penalty try after relentless pressure on Unam’s tryline, but Zaahl narrowed the gap to 14-9 with a penalty just before halftime.  Unam came out reinvigorated after the break and went 16-14 ahead when nippy scrumhalf AJ Kearns broke clear from a scrum to touch down for a converted try, but United regained the lead through a long range penalty by Ricardo Swartz and when Lintvelt crashed over in the corner they went 22-16 ahead.  The pressure, however, started to tell as JD Nel spilled a high ball and when Kearns went over for his second try from the resulting scrum, Unam were back in front at 23-22.  Zaahl then pounced onto a loose ball, kicking it ahead and beating Keenan Januarie to the touchdown and after adding the conversion Unam were suddenly leading 30-22. United came storming back with a try by lock Leon Mutonga, converted by Swartz and when the latter added a penalty they went 32-30 ahead.  Unam, however, had the final say when replacement back Delron Brandt put over a last minute drop goal to ensure a thrilling one-point victory.  FNB Wanderers, meanwhile, stretched their lead at the top of the log to 10 points after beating FNB Kudus 28-10 at Walvis Bay.  Wanderers scored four tries through Joe Losper, Johny Mwenyo, Denzo Bruwer and Danie van der Merwe, with Bruwer adding three conversions and Mwenyo one.  Kudus replied with a try by Ja-Tamson vander Berg, converted by Kyle Wentzel, who also put over a penalty.  It was Wanderers’ seventh consecutive victory and put them on 39 points, while Kudus remain second on 29.  Rehoboth had to pull out all the stops to beat FNB Dolphins 29-28 at home.  Rehoboth scored four tries through Manfred Garoeb, Henrique Olivier, Miquel Busch and Titus Mathias, while Franklin Busch added two conversions and Miquel Busch a conversion and a penalty.  Dolphins scored three tries through Ethan Hendricks, Jason Beukes and Conwill Draghoender, while Sammy Poulton added two conversions and three penalties.  Suburbs scored two penalty tries and another by Morgan Esterhuizen,while Geraldo Beukes added one conversion and four penalties.  Falcons scored three tries through Dillon Kahmann, Martinus Nekundi and Casey Beukes, who added three conversions and a penalty for a personal tally of 14 points.  The post Rugby semis race wide open  appeared first on The Namibian.

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All eyes on United v Unam  FNB Wanderers take on FNB Kudus in a top-of-the-log Rugby Premier League clash at Walvis Bay tomorrow, but all eyes will be on the showdown in Windhoek between Trustco United and FNB Unam. Wanderers on 34 points and Kudus on 29 have already booked their semifinal spots, but United (18) and Unam (17) are both still in the hunt and victory will be crucial for their title aspirations.  United head into the match after a bruising 47-24 defeat to Wanderers last weekend, but their coach Robbie Dickson said they took some positives from the match.  “It’s never nice losing a derby, but after watching the game a couple of times and having the analysis done, we’re actually quite happy with our performance. Two tries of ours were not given, one try of theirs came from a forward pass and we missed two conversions, so if things went our way we could well have won the game,” he said.  “We got a couple of injuries – our scrumhalf Elzandro van Wyk broke two fingers after he suffered a late tackle, so he’s out for the weekend, and then our outside centre Sammy Soobramoney injured his foot so I’m still not 100 per cent sure if he’ll be available,” he added.  Dickson said they worked on eliminating their mistakes against Wanderers.  “We have prepared well and worked on what went wrong – our defensive systems, set-pieces, and especially our line-outs in the second half were terrible against Wanderers. So we spent a lot of time on that and then we also just worked on our general play – protecting our ball better and putting our phases together better,” he said.  “We’re looking forward to the Unam challenge this weekend. We know it’s going to be hard, it’s a must-win match for us, but we are ready to kick off on Saturday and do the best that we can,” he added.  Unam coach Russel van Rooi said their momentum has picked up after a slow start to the season.  “We had a slow start to the season, but now we’ve won two games in a row and we’re in a good space at the moment. I think United will come out firing after their derby defeat, so we are expecting a titanic game, but we will field our strongest side and I have full confidence in my players,” he said.  Van Rooi said they are awaiting an injury assessment on versatile forward Oderich Mouton who could be in the starting line-up after returning from Poland, while the team will also be strengthened by national squad players like Jason Benade, Alcino Izaacs, Quirione Majiedt and Andrew Kearns.  It should be a cracking match that could go down to the wire.  FNB Western Suburbs (13 points) still have a remote chance of reaching the semis and will be targetting maximum bonus points when they host Reho Falcon, as will FNB Rehoboth Rugby Club (11 points) who will host FNB Dolphins.  The post All eyes on United v Unam  appeared first on The Namibian.

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Unam back on track FNB Unam got their Rugby Premier League campaign back on track with a 31-18 victory against Reho Falcons on Saturday, to revive their hopes of reaching the knock-out stages of the competition. There were also wins for FNB Kudus, FNB Western Suburbs and FNB Rehoboth as the battle for semifinal spots intensifies.  At the HTS field Unam received stiff resistance from Falcons, but eventually ran out comfortable winners, scoring five tries to zero.  In a scrappy first half, Ashton van Wyk put Falcons 6-0 ahead with two penalties, but Unam opened their account when Don Juan Beukes broke blind from a scrum to race clear, and with Aljarreau Zaal adding the conversion they went 7-6 ahead.  Falcons were penalised with Mike Eliaser and Zaino van Wyk both receiving yellow cards for foul play, but they defended courageously and regained the lead through another Van Wyk penalty early in the second half.  Unam upped the tempo after the break and went ahead after tries by fullback Davitho van Wyk and winger Quirione Majiedt, but Ashton van Wyk kept Falcons in touch with his booming boot and with 10 minutes to go the result was still wide open with Unam leading 19-15.  Unam, however, pulled away with two more tries by Cameron Klassen and Rowan Jansen in the final minutes to run out comfortable winners. The result put Unam right back in the title race in fifth place on the log on 12 points – four behind Grootfontein, but with a game in hand.  Unam captain Jansen was not very happy with their performance.  “It was a very rough start to the game – the first half was just stop and start all the time, there were a lot of knock-ons, a lot of scrums and lineouts, and lots of disciplinary issues from both teams that had to be sorted out,” he said.  “It really spoiled the quality of the game from both teams – we have to improve on that and it could have been a very good game if everyone was just a bit more disciplined. But in the second half my team came through strongly and we finished the game off well,” he added. Jansen said they need to improve a lot if they hope to make an impact this season.  “We’ve had a rough start to the season and we have a lot of things to sort out in our camp. So far we have three losses and two wins, so we have a long way to go and we have to improve on that,” he said.  Kudus, meanwhile, moved to within four points of log leaders FNB Wanderers with a hard-fought 33-27 away win against FNB Grootfontein.  Irongwa Atshivudhi scored a hattrick of tries, and Rayshawn Shoombe and Tonderai Ndudzo one try each, while Kyle Wentzel added three conversions and Shoombe one.  For Grootfontein, captain Wicus Jacobs scored three tries, all converted by Uroel Marais, who also added two penalties.  The result leaves Kudus second on 24 points, while Grootfontein remain fourth on 16.  Trustco United remain third on the log on 17 points, despite suffering a 38-28 defeat way to Rehoboth, who are now seventh on 11 points.  Manfred Garoeb scored a hattrick of tries for Rehoboth and Miquel Busch and Keynnen Basson one each, while Franklin Busch converted all five and added a penalty for a personal tally of 13 points. United scored four tries through Enrique Husselmann, JD Nel, Christo Gresse and Elzandro van Wyk, while Ricardo Swartz added four conversions.  Suburbs moved up to sixth position on 11 points after beating Dolphins 45-19 at Swakopmund.  Suburbs scored seven tries through Dhale Cloete (2), Bentinhu Benjamin, Delano van Wyk, Marcell Gariseb, Richard Mupewa and Digo Ashipala, while Nazume Swartz added four conversions. Dolphins scored three tries through Walter Johr, Cameron Marcus and Jerome Schumann, with Zaino van Wyk converting two.  The post Unam back on track appeared first on The Namibian.

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Big encounters in store in Rugby Premier League  The Windhoek Lager Rugby Premier League resumed tomorrow after a week’s break with some huge clashes in store.  Defending champions FNB Wanderers host archrivals FNB Unam, the early log leaders FNB Kudus host FNB Reho Falcon, FNB Western Suburbs host FNB Grootfontein, and FNB Reho Falcon host FNB Dolphins.  Wanderers got off to a great start when they beat Falcons 61-23 a fortnight ago and they will fancy their chances against Unam, who suffered a shock 24-22 defeat to Western Suburbs. Wanderers have been strengthened by several new players including utility back Johnny Mwenyo from Unam; former national u20 captain and loose forward Joe Losper and former u20 winger Owen Hawanga; loose forward Kian Beyer, who played club rugby in Germany last year; hooker Edward Drotsky from Rehoboth; and prop Hans Ngoshi from Grootfontein. Besides their usual powerful pack of forwards, they also have a potent backline where the Welwitschias halfback pairing of Jacques Theron and Denzo Bruwer is decisive in attack and defence – Theron with his nippy service and quick breaks, and Bruwer with his booming boot and accurate kicking.  Alongside them they have Welwitschias captain Danco Burger and the upcoming Danie van der Merwe at centre, while another up and coming centre Natie Janse van Rensburg didnt even make the starting 15 against Falcons.  Unam, though, are sure to provide a strong response after their defeat to Suburbs. In that match they seemed to be heading for victory when they led 15-3 at halftime, but their cause wasnt helped when they received two yellow cards after the break, while Suburbs capitalised with three quick tries to score a stunning victory.  Unam still have largely the same team that gave Wanderers a good run for their money in last year’s final and they are sure to come out firing tomorrow.  They have a dangerous backline including speedsters Quirione Majiedt and Shareave Titus, the experienced Camlo Martin at centre, and the explosive scrumhalf AJ Kearns who will have to be kept in check.  Up front they have a powerful pack with the likes of Graham April, Diamando Tjombe, Bjorn Kazondunge, and a mobile loose trio where Rowan Jansen and Gilad Plaatjies will provide Wanderers a stiff challenge for the loose ball.  It should be a great encounter that could go either way.  Suburbs meanwhile suffered a setback when they missed the player registration deadline and were deducted points for fielding ineligible players against Unam. With former United and Rehoboth coach Jood Opperman now in charge, they are sure to be well drilled and super fit and their encounter against Grootfontein should be another humdinger.  Rehoboth meanwhile open their account with a tough trip to the coast where they take on the early log leaders Kudus, while Falcons and Dolphins will both be keen to get their campaigns on track withj a victory when they clash in Rehoboth.  The post Big encounters in store in Rugby Premier League  appeared first on The Namibian.

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