FNB Wanderers and FNB Kudus both posted big wins on Saturday to set the pace at the top of the Namibia Rugby Premier League log.
Wanderers thumped FNB Rehoboth 62-12 to remain at the top of the log, while FNB Kudus beat FNB Western Suburbs 66-15 to move up to second place on the log.
At the Wanderers field, the home side dominated possession, but had little to show for it by half time as they held a narrow 12-5 lead.
Hooker Edward Drotsky opened their scoring after charging through from a line-out to pounce onto a loose ball, while flanker Kyle Nel rounded off a fast flowing attack to put them 12-0 ahead.
Rehoboth, however, defended resolutely and opened their account when left wing Raul Arebeb went over in the corner, and at the halftime break the match was still wide open.
Wanderers also conceded way too many penalties, especially at the rucks and some offside penalties as well, but after the break Rehoboth’s defence started to crack under Wanderers’ constant pressure.
Hooker Drotsky attacked from the restart to send fullback Jaylon Carew over behind the posts, while two more tries within three minutes by the omnipresent Drotsky and Kistings Minyoi, both converted by Andre van den Berg, gave them a comfortable 31-5 lead.
From there on Wanderers attacked at every opportunity as they pulled away with further tries by JP Campbell, Nandi Karuuombe, two more by Drotsky, and another by Van der Berg, who added six conversions for a personal tally of 17 points.
Rehoboth scored a late consolation try by Manfred Garoeb converted by Deevan Matthys.
The win saw Wanderers opening up an eight-point lead at the top of the log on 75 points, but coach Darryl de la Harpe was not too happy with their performance.
“It was a frustrating game because we couldn’t find our rhythm, but luckily we got the win and got the points,” he said, but added that he was concerned about the number of penalties they conceded.
“It’s something we have to go and have a look at – we had a chat to the referee about it and he has his points while we disagreed, but we need to get better and we need to understand what he sees. We just want to get continuity and consistency around that,” he said.
“But I’m happy that the team is developing at this rate and all the youngsters are getting a good chance and building up experience. I’m also pleased that we are top of the log – I hear other coaches or other clubs don’t see it as something big, which says a lot about their character, but we are proud of being on top,” he added.
Kudus, meanwhile, moved up to second place on 67 points after a big win away trophy Suburbs.
They collected maximum bonus points after scoring 10 tries through Lloyd Jacobs, Aston Mukwiilongo, Quinione Majiedt, Lucio Isaacs, Ray-Shawn Shoombe, Lezardo Vos, Joshwin Solomon, Utaara Uaaka, Kyle Wentzel and Cejay Coetzee, while Aurelio Plato added eight conversions.
Suburbs scored two tries through James Matroos and Gerhardt Vaino while Wyatt Brooks added one conversion and one penalty.
FNB Dolphins moved up to sixth position on the log on 28 points – just ahead of Rehoboth on points difference – after beating Reho Falcon 42-29 at Rehoboth.
Dolphins scored six tries through Lucihano Geingob (two), Renardo Doeseb, Jerome Immanuel, Brandon Brendell and Cameron Markus, while Maughan Jarman converted them all for a personal tally of 12 points.
On Friday night, FNB Unam turned the tables on Montego United 37-12 at the Unam Stadium.
A fortnight ago United beat Unam 36-26 at United, but on Friday, Unam gained revenge with a fine performance.
They scored six tries, with Mchenry Kamatuku and Jaydene Links scoring two each, and Keno Shetukana and Lazarus Joseph one each, while Aljarreau Zaahl added two conversions and one penalty.
United scored two tries through Jurgen Meyer and Ironghwa Atshivudhi, while Hanreco van Zyl added one conversion.
The result sees United dropping down to third position on 65 points, followed by Grootfontein on 57, while Unam are fifth on 43 points.
With only two matches remaining, however, Unam are now too far behind and cannot make the semifinals anymore.
