Invitational sides play to draw

A WHITE Invitation team made a late comeback to draw 26-all against a Blue Invitation team at the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The exhibition match, involving Namibia’s national squad players, followed the presentation of the official rugby world cup, the William Webb Ellis trophy, to a handful of spectators and dignitaries, including the president of the Namibia Rugby Union, Dirk Conradie and the Deputy Minister of Sport, Pohamba Shifeta. The match, however, was not much of a spectacle and it was clear that the players were just going through the motions, while there seemed to be more interest in the announcements of the Super 14 semi-final match between the Sharks and the Blues.Be that as it may, a few players made use of the opportunity to showcase their talent, while the result didn’t go according to plan.The White team included more national players, but they were soon trailing as the Blue team made the early attacking.Du Preez Grobler broke through the backline to score behind the posts, with Morne Schreuder adding the conversion, while scrumhalf Dirkie Lochner added a second try after a quick counterattack by the Blue team.Just before halftime, wing John Drotskie launched a counterattack which led to flanker Vaughan Pietersen’s try, converted by Schreuder to put Blue 19-0 ahead.Flanker Wolfie Duvenhage opened the White team’s account with a fine try just after halftime, when he broke through the forwards and exchanged passes with Herman Lintvelt before scoring behind the posts, with Justinus van der Westhuizen adding the conversion.The Blue team went 26-7 ahead after an opportunistic try by Jurie van Tonder, converted by Schreuder, before the White team launched a late revival.Right wing Stefan du Randt went over for a try after a swift backline move, while Wolfie Duvenhage scored his second try after powering over from a maul on the tryline.Justinus van der Westhuizen added both conversions to bring the White team right back into the match at 26-21.With time running out the White team immediately attacked from the kick-off and centre Pieter Rossouw scored from the final move of the match to tie the scores.This time Van der Westhuizen’s kick drifted wide of the target.Du Preez Grobler, Regardt Kruger and Jurie van Tonder caught the eye for the Blue team, while Wolfie Duvenhage and Justinus van der Westhuizen stood out for the White team.www.namibiasport.com.naThe match, however, was not much of a spectacle and it was clear that the players were just going through the motions, while there seemed to be more interest in the announcements of the Super 14 semi-final match between the Sharks and the Blues.Be that as it may, a few players made use of the opportunity to showcase their talent, while the result didn’t go according to plan.The White team included more national players, but they were soon trailing as the Blue team made the early attacking.Du Preez Grobler broke through the backline to score behind the posts, with Morne Schreuder adding the conversion, while scrumhalf Dirkie Lochner added a second try after a quick counterattack by the Blue team.Just before halftime, wing John Drotskie launched a counterattack which led to flanker Vaughan Pietersen’s try, converted by Schreuder to put Blue 19-0 ahead.Flanker Wolfie Duvenhage opened the White team’s account with a fine try just after halftime, when he broke through the forwards and exchanged passes with Herman Lintvelt before scoring behind the posts, with Justinus van der Westhuizen adding the conversion.The Blue team went 26-7 ahead after an opportunistic try by Jurie van Tonder, converted by Schreuder, before the White team launched a late revival.Right wing Stefan du Randt went over for a try after a swift backline move, while Wolfie Duvenhage scored his second try after powering over from a maul on the tryline.Justinus van der Westhuizen added both conversions to bring the White team right back into the match at 26-21.With time running out the White team immediately attacked from the kick-off and centre Pieter Rossouw scored from the final move of the match to tie the scores.This time Van der Westhuizen’s kick drifted wide of the target.Du Preez Grobler, Regardt Kruger and Jurie van Tonder caught the eye for the Blue team, while Wolfie Duvenhage and Justinus van der Westhuizen stood out for the White team.www.namibiasport.com.na