Welwitschias crushed in SA

By: Helge Schutz

A DESPERATE Welwitschias team crashed to a 92-27 defeat against South Africa U-20 in Stellenbosch on Saturday afternoon. The SA side were just too fast and slick as they ran in 14 tries after building up a 40-6 lead at halftime.

Namibia made a bit of a comeback in the second half but by then the result was beyond doubt, as the South Africans finished with a canter.
The South Africans played with high intensity and pace and breached the Welwitchias’ defence with ease.
Their backline especially showed some smooth passing and great speed as centres Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Justin Geduld, and wings Seabeko Senatla and Luther Obi each scored two tries.
Their other tries came from scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer, flanker Ruan Steenkamp, hooker Jacques du Toit, eighthman Aidon Davis, fullback Cheslin Kolbe, and replacement back Sylvian Mabuza.
Flyhalf Robert du Preez added eleven conversions for a personal tally of 22 points.
Namibia scored three tries through captain and eighthman PJ van Lill, fullback Justin Nel and flanker Rohan Kitshoff.
Flyhalf Theuns Kotze added two penalties and three conversions.
Namibia coach Danie Vermeulen was very disappointed with the team’s performance, saying it was a disgrace.
“It was pathetic. This was not what we planned or prepared for and what we expected on the field, and to be honest, its a disgrace for the jersey,” he said.
“The team will definitely be a lot stronger when we go to Dakar in Senegal, but we expect more pride on the defence because that is character and attitude and today the players didnt show any of that on the defence,” he added.
The Welwitschias will next play the Lions in Windhoek on Saturday, May 18 and Vermeulen said they would have to lift their game considerably.
“We spoke about the Lions match right after the game. We’ve got 1 500km to think about what happened today and to get our minds right for next Saturday because its not going to get any easier. We will definitely have to get our pride back and get some commitment in the defence,” he said.
“Against the Lions we will bring in Andre Schlechter at prop and Tinus du Plessis on the flank in place of Rohan Kitshoff, so those two players can show us what they can bring to the party,” he added.
Vermeulen said he expected the pace to be slower at the CAR Division 1B competition in Senegal in June, where Namibia will have to beat Senegal, Tunisia and Botswana if they hope to stay on track to qualify for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
“I think in Senegal the pace will be slower than what we faced today. Their game is based more on the forwards and they don’t like to take the game wide, but we also struggled to get some momentum with our forwards and that is what we are going to face in Senegal so we will definitely have to step up on our physicality,” he said.

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