SPORT - FOOTBALL
| 2013-07-25Falcons get the chop
Helge Schutz
DOuBle WHAMMY … Reho Falcon flyhalf Lariano van Wyk, seen here in action against United, was injured and had to leave the field against Rehoboth last weekend.
WITH the first round of the Namibia Rugby Premier League virtually completed, the teams that will compete in the second round of the Top Five Cup competition in the second round, have been finalised.
Neo Paints Reho Falcon, who have won the Premier League title twice over the past seven years, were the most unlucky team to miss the cut as they were pipped by Kudus to the fifth spot. Falcons lost 29-16 to Rehoboth last Saturday, while Kudus received maximum points after their opponents Mariental failed to turn up for
the match in Walvis Bay. Kudus will now join the top four clubs Western Suburbs, Rehoboth, Trustco United and Unam in the Top Five Cup competition while Falcons are emoted to the Bottom Six Plate competition in the second round of the Premier League competition which gets underway on August 3. The final outstanding match of the first round will be completed this weekend when Unam travel to the coast to take on Dolphins. Falcons coach Ronaldo Pedro was philosophical about their demotion, saying that he would use the opportunity to groom his younger players for the future.
“We were leading 16-6 against Rehoboth at halftime but then two of our players got injured and we couldn’t close the gaps, and Rehoboth were too strong in the second half. The players were quite down after the defeat, but there are also positives and I will use this opportunity to groom some of our younger players in the Plate competition. This will give them more opportunities to play so that they will be more experienced by next year,” he said. The defending champions Western Suburbs meanwhile finished on top of the log on 43 points after beating United 29-16 on Saturday. They ran in four tries to gain a bonus point and just pipped Rehoboth to the top spot on points difference. Unam will most probably finish third if they beat Dolphins as expected on Saturday, which will see United moving down to fourth on 37 points and Kudus fifth on 35 points. The final log positions could still play an important role in the second round of the competition, as the teams’ first round points could be carried over to the second round, although the NRU still has to make a final decision on this. The Bottom Six Plate competition will be contested by Reho Falcons, Mariental, Wanderers, Walvis Bay, Dolphins and Polytech, although there are also rumours that Mariental might withdraw from the competition. Mariental have been hit by numerous injuries and hardly have enough players to field a starting 15 and a final decision on their continued participation is still pending. This is the first year that the new format of dividing the teams into two separate competitions for the second round has been used and the CEO of the NRU Sybrand de Beer said it had been a success. “The teams will now play in a Cup and a Plate competition in the second round on a round robin basis and a once-off final. I think it’s a good system because it will give the bottom teams something to play for and a chance to win a trophy,” he said. Meanwhile, the NRU have appointed Jan Dames and Roger Thompson as coaches of the national Under 19 team following the resignation of Jood Oppermann and Vince Dreyer last month. Dames who coaches Windhoek High School will be the forward coach while Thompson, who coaches Western Suburbs will be the backline coach. They will prepare the U19 team for the Junior Africa Cup competition which takes place in Nelspruit, South Africa at the end of August, where the winning team will
qualify for the 2014 Junior
Rugby World Trophy which will take place in Hong Kong. Dames and Thompson will be assisted by the senior national coaches Danie Vermeulen, Walter Donn and Henry Kemp with the view to implement the same structures as that of the senior side. “We want to align our national teams from junior to senior level so that they can follow the same systems, defensive patterns, line outs and scrum calls and so on. These structures are used by the top rugby nations in the world and will make it easier for our juniors to adapt when they become seniors,” De Beer said.
the match in Walvis Bay. Kudus will now join the top four clubs Western Suburbs, Rehoboth, Trustco United and Unam in the Top Five Cup competition while Falcons are emoted to the Bottom Six Plate competition in the second round of the Premier League competition which gets underway on August 3. The final outstanding match of the first round will be completed this weekend when Unam travel to the coast to take on Dolphins. Falcons coach Ronaldo Pedro was philosophical about their demotion, saying that he would use the opportunity to groom his younger players for the future.
“We were leading 16-6 against Rehoboth at halftime but then two of our players got injured and we couldn’t close the gaps, and Rehoboth were too strong in the second half. The players were quite down after the defeat, but there are also positives and I will use this opportunity to groom some of our younger players in the Plate competition. This will give them more opportunities to play so that they will be more experienced by next year,” he said. The defending champions Western Suburbs meanwhile finished on top of the log on 43 points after beating United 29-16 on Saturday. They ran in four tries to gain a bonus point and just pipped Rehoboth to the top spot on points difference. Unam will most probably finish third if they beat Dolphins as expected on Saturday, which will see United moving down to fourth on 37 points and Kudus fifth on 35 points. The final log positions could still play an important role in the second round of the competition, as the teams’ first round points could be carried over to the second round, although the NRU still has to make a final decision on this. The Bottom Six Plate competition will be contested by Reho Falcons, Mariental, Wanderers, Walvis Bay, Dolphins and Polytech, although there are also rumours that Mariental might withdraw from the competition. Mariental have been hit by numerous injuries and hardly have enough players to field a starting 15 and a final decision on their continued participation is still pending. This is the first year that the new format of dividing the teams into two separate competitions for the second round has been used and the CEO of the NRU Sybrand de Beer said it had been a success. “The teams will now play in a Cup and a Plate competition in the second round on a round robin basis and a once-off final. I think it’s a good system because it will give the bottom teams something to play for and a chance to win a trophy,” he said. Meanwhile, the NRU have appointed Jan Dames and Roger Thompson as coaches of the national Under 19 team following the resignation of Jood Oppermann and Vince Dreyer last month. Dames who coaches Windhoek High School will be the forward coach while Thompson, who coaches Western Suburbs will be the backline coach. They will prepare the U19 team for the Junior Africa Cup competition which takes place in Nelspruit, South Africa at the end of August, where the winning team will
qualify for the 2014 Junior
Rugby World Trophy which will take place in Hong Kong. Dames and Thompson will be assisted by the senior national coaches Danie Vermeulen, Walter Donn and Henry Kemp with the view to implement the same structures as that of the senior side. “We want to align our national teams from junior to senior level so that they can follow the same systems, defensive patterns, line outs and scrum calls and so on. These structures are used by the top rugby nations in the world and will make it easier for our juniors to adapt when they become seniors,” De Beer said.
