Province outplay game Welwitschias

THE Welwitschias suffered a comprehensive 71-7 defeat against Western Province at the Hage Geingob stadium on Saturday after trailing 31-7 at halftime.

Province dominated all aspects of play, and ran in 11 tries to the Welwitschias’ one, but the home side at least gave a much better performance in the scrums where they stood firm against the visitors.

Man of the match Jacobus van Dyk and EW Viljoen scored two tries each while Dennis Cox, Justin Phillips, Eital Bredenkamp, Christo van der Merwe, Beyers de Villiers, Scott van Breda and Khanyo Ngcukana scored one try each.

Full back Grant Hamilton added eight conversions for a personal tally of 16 points.

For the Welwitschias, fly half Mahco Prinsloo scored a try which was converted by fullback Justin Nel.

Province attacked from the start and went over for their first try after a minute when fly half Dennis Cox sliced through the backline to touch down.

Province continued to batter away at the Welwitschias’ defence and eighthman Jacobus van Dyk barged over from a lineout for a converted try to put them 12-0 ahead.

Scrum half JC Winckler sparked the Welwitschias’ first attack with a fine 30 metre run and when they won a scrum on Province’s line, the ball was spun out to Prinsloo who broke through two tackles to score a converted try.

Any hopes of a revival by the Welwitschias however soon disappeared as Province continued to attack with scrum half Justin Phillips and centre EW Viljoen scoring tries in quick succession to go 24-7 ahead after 20 minutes.

The Welwitschias defended courageously but Province finally added to their tally just before the break when Jacobus van Dyk scored his second try with a pushover try from a scrum.

Province continued the second half where they left off when substitute flanker Eital Bredenkamp went on a rampaging run from the kickoff to dive over behind the posts.

flanker Christo van der Merwe touched down from a rolling maul soon after and when substitute forward Beyer de Villiers barged over from a line-out, Province went 52-7 ahead.

The Welwitschias nearly scored a try from a scrum on Province’s line, but Province survived and struck back with a try by substitute forward Scott van Breda.

The Welwitschias battered away at Province’s defence but couldn’t break through and it was the visitors who had the final say when right wing Khanyo Ngcukana and centre EW Viljoen scored two tries in the final minutes to complete a comprehensive victory.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.