SA A-side runs over Invitational side

THE South African A rugby side took their chances aggressively to emerge as 55-23 victors over a plucky Namibian Invitational team at the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium on Saturday.

Half-time score was 17- 9 for SA A. The visiting team, under coach Rudi Joubert, ran-in eight tries compared to two by the home side.Prolific Namibian flyhalf Morne Schreuder garnered the bulk of the Invitation side’s points with his boot.Schreuder, who also represented the country at last year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia, has tremendously improved his kicking and it looked easy as he took shots from tight angles.South Africa A and Stormers scrum-half Neil de Kock dotted down twice, while winger Jorrie Muller also crossed the try-line on two occasions.A steady defence in the opening minutes of the match by the Namibian team, which also featured some SA players, did not deter the visitors as they upped their performance in especially the second half to walk away with the victory.A lively near-capacity crowd of about 15 000 cheered both teams on from the first whistle, but the Namibians got the biggest shout, especially when they scored their two tries in brilliant style.Namibia, through Schreuder, were the first to put points on the scoreboard from a penalty in SA A’s half, leading 3-0 for at least seven minutes before their opponents made their mark.For Namibia, two fantastic tries came from Jacques Burger and Dewald Myburg.South Africa A opened their account through de Kock who dived over the line after a typical quick sprint from the base of the scrum.Sharp-shooter for the SA A Nell Fourie, a former Cats player but now with the Golden Lions, had his point-scoring boots on as he made no mistake in most of his conversions on the afternoon.The Namibian back line had to work harder in defence, as the ball distribution among the South Africans was efficient, making matters difficult for the home side.SA’s centre Adrian Jacobs went down for their second try with Fourie converting it, while he (Fourie) also slotted through a penalty before the break to make it 9-17 The second half produced more sparks, but the Namibians were made to sweat as Joubert changed his team’s attacking tactics.Coetzee scored for SA A in the opening minutes of the second half, capitalising on a five-metre scrum that did not go Namibia’s way despite their throw-in, to put the score at 9-24.The Namibians pushed to put points on the board and this came via Number 8, Jacques Burger, who had to go past several challengers before going over for his try.The score stood at 14-24.Tries in the last quarter of the second half, came in fast with speedster Jorrie Muller going through for two tries on separate occasions, while lock Gerrie Britz and forward Christo Bezuidenhout also put their names on the score-sheet with two good tries.The Namibians had tried in vain to catch up with the South Africans who at one point led 16-48.The visiting team, under coach Rudi Joubert, ran-in eight tries compared to two by the home side.Prolific Namibian flyhalf Morne Schreuder garnered the bulk of the Invitation side’s points with his boot.Schreuder, who also represented the country at last year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia, has tremendously improved his kicking and it looked easy as he took shots from tight angles.South Africa A and Stormers scrum-half Neil de Kock dotted down twice, while winger Jorrie Muller also crossed the try-line on two occasions.A steady defence in the opening minutes of the match by the Namibian team, which also featured some SA players, did not deter the visitors as they upped their performance in especially the second half to walk away with the victory.A lively near-capacity crowd of about 15 000 cheered both teams on from the first whistle, but the Namibians got the biggest shout, especially when they scored their two tries in brilliant style.Namibia, through Schreuder, were the first to put points on the scoreboard from a penalty in SA A’s half, leading 3-0 for at least seven minutes before their opponents made their mark.For Namibia, two fantastic tries came from Jacques Burger and Dewald Myburg.South Africa A opened their account through de Kock who dived over the line after a typical quick sprint from the base of the scrum.Sharp-shooter for the SA A Nell Fourie, a former Cats player but now with the Golden Lions, had his point-scoring boots on as he made no mistake in most of his conversions on the afternoon.The Namibian back line had to work harder in defence, as the ball distribution among the South Africans was efficient, making matters difficult for the home side.SA’s centre Adrian Jacobs went down for their second try with Fourie converting it, while he (Fourie) also slotted through a penalty before the break to make it 9-17 The second half produced more sparks, but the Namibians were made to sweat as Joubert changed his team’s attacking tactics.Coetzee scored for SA A in the opening minutes of the second half, capitalising on a five-metre scrum that did not go Namibia’s way despite their throw-in, to put the score at 9-24.The Namibians pushed to put points on the board and this came via Number 8, Jacques Burger, who had to go past several challengers before going over for his try.The score stood at 14-24.Tries in the last quarter of the second half, came in fast with speedster Jorrie Muller going through for two tries on separate occasions, while lock Gerrie Britz and forward Christo Bezuidenhout also put their names on the score-sheet with two good tries.The Namibians had tried in vain to catch up with the South Africans who at one point led 16-48.