Falcons are premiership champs

REHO Falcons won the MTC Rugby Premier League title when they beat Western Suburbs 18-9 in the final at Windhoek’s Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium on Saturday.

The match was not much of a spectacle and was frequently interrupted due to injuries on both sides. The two sides weighed up quite evenly in a battle for forward dominance, and not much was seen of either side’s backlines.Reho Falcon took the lead in the 8th minute when replacement forward Deon Pieters barged over for a try from a lineout.Falcons fullback Howard Titus missed the conversion, and Suburbs soon reduced the deficit when McGrath van Wyk put over a penalty to make it 5-3.Titus and Van Wyk traded penalties to make the halftime score 8-6 in favour of Falcons.Van Wyk put Suburbs right back in contention with a penalty just after halftime, but Falcons pulled ahead with a great try in the 44th minute.Falcons wing John van Wyk received the ball in space and beat his opposite number McGrath van Wyk to score in the corner.Titus added a great conversion from the touchline to put Falcons 15-9 ahead.Western Suburbs threw everything into attack and had a great opportunity midway through the second half when Ricardo Snyders was put clear on the left, but with an open tryline beckoning, he knocked the ball on.Suburbs had most of the possession and continued attacking, but Falcons defended superbly to keep them away.With three minutes remaining, Falcons’ flyhalf Jacky Bok received the ball from a scrum and calmly put over a drop kick to put Falcons 18-9 up and secure the victory, much to the delight of their fans.It was a historic day for Falcons who won the Premier League title for the first time in their history.They received N$60 000 from the sponsors MTC, while Suburbs received N$40 000.Falcons centre Cliff Loubser paid tribute to his young team after the match.”We worked very hard for this victory and I’m very happy.We have a very young side, most of the players are still under 23 and they put up a great show,” he said.Falcons win at the weekend concludes the domestic rugby season before the Rugby World Cup will be decided in France next month.Namibia will be playing at its third Rugby World Cup after also playing in Wales and Australia.The Namibian team has already been announced at the Namibia Rugby Union has officially installed former player Hakkies Husselmann as the coach after the former, Johan Venter was fired.The Namibia team comes against the might of France, Argentina and Ireland in their group.In the 2003 World Cup, Namibia did not record a single victory and will this time be required to put in a credible performance at the event which draws the best rugb y playing nations.www.namibiasport.com.naThe two sides weighed up quite evenly in a battle for forward dominance, and not much was seen of either side’s backlines.Reho Falcon took the lead in the 8th minute when replacement forward Deon Pieters barged over for a try from a lineout.Falcons fullback Howard Titus missed the conversion, and Suburbs soon reduced the deficit when McGrath van Wyk put over a penalty to make it 5-3.Titus and Van Wyk traded penalties to make the halftime score 8-6 in favour of Falcons.Van Wyk put Suburbs right back in contention with a penalty just after halftime, but Falcons pulled ahead with a great try in the 44th minute.Falcons wing John van Wyk received the ball in space and beat his opposite number McGrath van Wyk to score in the corner.Titus added a great conversion from the touchline to put Falcons 15-9 ahead.Western Suburbs threw everything into attack and had a great opportunity midway through the second half when Ricardo Snyders was put clear on the left, but with an open tryline beckoning, he knocked the ball on.Suburbs had most of the possession and continued attacking, but Falcons defended superbly to keep them away.With three minutes remaining, Falcons’ flyhalf Jacky Bok received the ball from a scrum and calmly put over a drop kick to put Falcons 18-9 up and secure the victory, much to the delight of their fans.It was a historic day for Falcons who won the Premier League title for the first time in their history.They received N$60 000 from the sponsors MTC, while Suburbs received N$40 000.Falcons centre Cliff Loubser paid tribute to his young team after the match.”We worked very hard for this victory and I’m very happy.We have a very young side, most of the players are still under 23 and they put up a great show,” he said.Falcons win at the weekend concludes the domestic rugby season before the Rugby World Cup will be decided in France next month.Namibia will be playing at its third Rugby World Cup after also playing in Wales and Australia.The Namibian team has already been announced at the Namibia Rugby Union has officially installed former player Hakkies Husselmann as the coach after the former, Johan Venter was fired.The Namibia team comes against the might of France, Argentina and Ireland in their group.In the 2003 World Cup, Namibia did not record a single victory and will this time be required to put in a credible performance at the event which draws the best rugb y playing nations.www.namibiasport.com.na