Defending champions FNB Kudus breathed new life into their title defence with an impressive 41-27 away win against FNB Unam on Saturday.
FNB Grootfontein, meanwhile, returned to the top of the log after a 41-36 win against FNB Dolphins, while Trustco United remained in touch with the leaders with a 57-21 win against FNB Reho Falcon. FNB Rehoboth, picked up a 44-19 win on the road against FNB Western Suburbs to move up to fifth place on the log.
At a windy Unam Stadium in Windhoek, Unam and Kudus were level throughout until two late tries gave Kudus a 14-point win.
Unam took a 10-0 lead after a try by Alcino Izaacs with Aljarreau Zaahl converting and adding a penalty, but Kudus stormed back with tries by Tonderai Ndudzo and Aston Mukwiilongo to go 14-10 ahead.
Zaahl reduced the deficit to 14-13 with another 50m penalty, but Kudus went 19-13 ahead at the break when Mukwiilongo cut through the backline to dive over under the posts for his second try.
The momentum continued to swing back and forth after the break, with tries by Unam prop Victor Augustinus and loose forward Seblon Mangundu, and Kudus lock Clayton Camm, putting Unam 27-24 ahead going into the final quarter.
Kudus flyhalf Aurelio Plato, however, drew Kudus level at 27-all, while the visitors finished stronger with two late tries by Ja-Tamson van der Berg and Mukwiilongo’s third to seal an impressive win.
The win put them up to fourth place on the log on 26 points and with a match in hand on the leaders they are now right back amongst the title contenders.
Kudus flyhallf Denzo Bruwer said it was a high-tempo match.
“Both teams had a very high tempo and you could see towards the end some of the guys were flat out, they gave it their all. I think Unam really brought it to us, there were a few scrums that they really dominated but we managed to pull it through,” he said.
“We played against the wind in the first half so we tried to weather the storm a bit and we knew we could use the wind in the second half to gain a bit of momentum,” he added.
“We’ve had a few ups and downs so far this season but I think we are gaining momentum and we can build on this win going forward. I think the vibe inside the camp is now better than what it was at the beginning, so I think we are getting there, but it’s taking some time,” he said.
Grootfontein, meanwhile, returned to the top of the log on 32 points with a hard-fought 41-36 win against Dolphins. Grootfontein scored seven tries through Alfred Vercuil, Lasarus Joseph, Adriaan Steenkamp, Justin Pollmann, Pieter Luttig, Pieter-Daniel Kok and Renard Hattingh, while Franklin Busch added three conversions.
United picked up maximum bonus points in a 57-21 win against Reho Falcon go move up to third place on 29 points.
They scored nine tries with Irongwa Atshivudi, Hanreco van Zyl and Kamaa Kajau scoring two each, and DJ Holtzhausen, Jurgen Meyer and Thehard Lintvelt one each, while Lintvelt added one conversion, and Enrique Husselmann five conversions.
For Falcons Cliven Loubser scored two tries and a conversion, Brian Bayer scored one try, and Gurtley Beukes and Ashton van Wyk each put over one conversion.
Rehoboth Rugby Club moved up to fifth place on the log on 16 points with a 44-19 win away to Western Suburbs.
Rehoboth scored seven tries through Titus Matheus (two), Dolano Vries, Diego Ashipala, Denver Beukes and Deevan Matthys, as well as a penalty try, while Miquel Busch added two conversions and a penalty.
For Suburbs, Daryll Vries scored two tries which were both converted by Wyatt Brooks.
