Suburbs book semifinal spot

WESTERN Suburbs scored the required four tries and got the bonus point to claim the last semi final spot in the MTC Rugby Premier League when they beat Mariental 29-12 on Saturday.

Centre Daryl de la Harpe scored the first try for Suburbs followed by two tries by prop Hauta Veii.
Four minutes before the final whistle, Suburbs had a try disallowed after the linesman judged that there had been a knock-on earlier.
Fifteen seconds before the final whistle, Elton van Rooi scored the fourth try for the Khomasdal-based team to give them the bonus point they needed to make it to the semi finals.
With 37 points Suburbs finish the league in fourth position, behind Wanderers who are first with 54 points, Reho Falcons (50) and Rehoboth (43). Suburbs will face Wanderers in the semi final while Falcons face Rehoboth.
Mariental will finish their debut season in top league rugby, fifth on the log with 36 points. United are also in sixth position with 36, but have an inferior points difference. Kudus are seventh and Unam eighth with 30 and 18 points respectively.
Robert Thompson, Suburbs manager, was very happy with the result.
“We are ecstatic about the win, I want to thank the players and the coaches who put in a lot into making sure that we make it to the semi finals,” Thompson said.
“Our players stepped up to the plate and now we have the reward,” he continued.
The match was rescheduled after Suburbs appealed a decision by the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) to award the full six points to Mariental after Suburbs had refused to travel to Stampriet, which is 30 km east of Mariental, for a scheduled league match on June 5.
As a result, the arbitrator who handled the case found that the NRU had acted unconstitutionally when they made the initial judgement against Suburbs.
The arbitrator, Mr Clement Daniels, ruled that the match should be replayed and that the NRU should cover all the traveling expenses of Suburbs to Mariental. The six points that had been awarded to Mariental by the NRU were taken away.
The semi finals will be played on September 4 at the Hage Geingob Stadium.
- namibiasport.com.na

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