THE Namibian club rugby season kicks off on Saturday with three Premier League matches taking place in Windhoek, Rehoboth and Walvis Bay.
The reigning champions Wanderers have a bye this weekend, but the other six Premier League teams are all in action.
Western Suburbs host Rehoboth at Suburbs Park in Khomasdal, Kudus host Unam at the Narraville stadium, and Reho Falcon host United in Rehoboth.
The Khomasdal match should be an interesting encounter with both teams eager to establish themselves under new coaches. Llewellyn ‘Wally’ Winckler took over at Suburbs last October, while David Philander was appointed as Rehoboth coach earlier this year.
The two are close friends and were previously team mates for the national Namibian team, and Winckler said they expected a tough match.
“David and I have played together for the national team and I know his game well. He always brings an X factor to the game so we will have to be very careful. But we are well prepared and are looking forward to the match.”
According to Winckler they have been training on and off since October last year.
“Our preparations have gone well and I’m happy with the players’ fitness and conditioning. We also played a friendly match against Unam last week and although we lost 26-17, our performance gave me a lot of hope,” he said.
Some of their new signings include eighthman Mogamat Emamdien from Unam, centre Mbimbo Mbai from United, prop Bryton Bostander from Ocean Swallows and 19-year-old wing Daniel Hummel.
Some of their key players remaining from last year include scrum half JC Winckler, fly half Justin Nel, centre Ricardo Swartz and lock forward James Kisting.
Suburbs will celebrate their 40th anniversary this year and Winckler said they wanted to do well to mark the occasion.
“We have big celebrations coming up and we want to very well in this special year of the club.
Rehoboth had a disappointing season last year, finishing second last on the log, but the arrival of Philander has brought a new found sense of optimism to the team.
“We have prepared well, we are in a good head space at the moment and looking forward to the game,” he said on Thursday.
“Wally is a good friend of mine and I have the utmost respect for him. Suburbs have a good squad of youth and experience and they showed in their match against Unam that they can run with the big dogs. So it will be a tough match and both teams will be fired up,” he said.
Rehoboth have also strengthened their squad with the arrival of former Unam fly half Henrique Olivier, who played for the Southern Kings last year, while he also made his national senior debut against Spain in November last year. Former Wanderers winger Desylvano Beukes has also joined Rehoboth, while stalwarts like eighthman Johan Wohler, scrum half Howard Titus, centre Chase Diergaardt will provide the experience.
Unam take on Kudus in Narraville and Unam coach Johan Diergaardt said they would field quite a young and new-look team.
“A lot of our players are in the national training squad and not available, but we have a lot of depth. This will give the new players a chance to make their mark, and I am looking forward to the challenge.”
He, however, said they would not take Kudus lightly.
“Well they call the Narraville Stadium the ‘house of pain’, so it will be a difficult game, but our young players are up for the challenge,” he said.
Diergaardt added that their aim was to regain the Premier League title that they won for three years in a row from 2015 to 2018.
“That’s the reason why we are competing – we want to win the title again and will work hard to achieve that,” he said.
In tomorrow’s third match, Reho Falcon will be keen to turn their luck around when they host United in Rehoboth. The Falcons have struggled over the past few years, finishing last last year, but on Saturday they once again face a tough encounter against a United side that finished as runner-ups to Wanderers last season.
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