FNB Wanderers reclaimed the Namibia Rugby Premier League title from FNB Kudus with an emphatic 52-27 victory on Saturday.
Kudus matched Wanderers in the first half, going into half-time with a narrow 21-17 deficit, but Wanderers stepped up the pressure with a ruthless display of forward power and clinical backline attacks to run out convincing winners, scoring eight tries to three in the process.
Kudus initially set the pace, with flyhalf Kyle Wentzel putting over an early penalty, and when winger Aston Mukwiilongo cut through the backline for a converted try they went 10-0 ahead.
Wanderers, however, came back strongly and after scrumhalf Jacques Theron was held up on the line, flanker Dhale Cloete crashed over after sustained pressure.
Flyhalf Andre van der Berg converted, and just four minutes later, hooker Edward Drotsky replicated the feat from another driving maul to put Wanderers ahead for the first time at 14-10.
Wentzel struck back for Kudus with a fine individual try, chipping over the defensive line and winning the race to touch down, but just before the break, Wanderers lock Kistings Minyoi gathered a short pass after a bruising Danco Burger run to crash over, giving Wanderers a 21-17 lead at half-time.
Kudus’ substitute back Aurelio Plato closed the gap to a single point with an early second-half penalty, but that was as close as the defending champions got.
Wanderers’ forward pack completely took control, exposing Kudus’ struggling set-pieces and lineouts.
Minyoi secured his brace from a 5m driving maul, and Drotsky soon followed with his second, pouncing on a loose ball to race through the defence.
When Kudus wasted a golden 5m opportunity with a knock-on, Wanderers ruthlessly punished them.
Eighthman Adriaan Booysen powered over in the corner, and another great conversion by Van der Berg put them well ahead at 42-20.
Kudus struck back with a try by centre Justin Newman, but any hopes of a comeback were thwarted when wing Nandi Karuuombe scooped up a loose ball to race over unopposed, while Drotsky completed the scoring with his third try to seal their victory in dominant style.
Wanderers captain Burger praised his team for their great performance on Saturday.
“I’m lost for words, we had a great game. Kudos to the Kudus team. They showed some fight today, but all credit to my team. I told the guys just stick to the processes, with us its a journey, and today, luckily, the score was on our side, so we are very grateful to win the title,” he said.
Burger said they used the memory of last year’s final defeat as a motivating factor in Saturday’s final.
“During the week I told the guys, that feeling we felt after losing the final last year, it was quite an emotional one for us. So we wanted to make it personal, and the guys really showed up, and we are just grateful for the win,” he said.
Kudus’ eighthman Ja-Tamson van der Berg said they were very disappointed, but was gracious in defeat.
“I want to thank our fans who came all the way to support us today. We are very disappointed, but sometimes in life things don’t go your way and you just have to accept it,” he said.
“I told the boys it won’t be easy, we will have to put out bodies on the line, and eventually it didn’t go our way, but well done to Wanderers,” he said.
Unam II, meanwhile, won the Reserve League title after beating Kudus II 33-30 in a thrilling match that went down to the wire.
Double delight for Wanderers
It was a great day for Wanderers as they also won the women’s trophy after beating the defending champions Unam 45-26 in the final.
Unam entered the match as the favourites after winning last year’s final 43-7, while they beat Wanderers in both this year’s league encounters, but on Saturday, Wanderers rose to the occasion with an inspired display.
Their left wing Lizzle Tauchas was the star of the show, scoring four tries with her blistering pace. Right wing Anchal Harases added two tries and substitute back Shandre Jantjies one, while fullback Joana van Staden added five conversions.
Unam scored four tries through Kayla-Ann Tjombe, Desny Ngarizemo, Elzanne-Lee Basson and Faith Tjambari while Michelle Slinger added three conversions.
