WINDHOEK High School won the Under-19 Super Plate final of the Metropolitan Boards Schools Rugby trophy for the sixth year in a row after beating Windhoek Gymnasium 31-19 in the final on Saturday evening.
WHS took a 19-0 lead at halftime and despite having prop GD Orlam sent off early in the second half they withstood late pressure from Gymnasium to comfortably win the match. Orlam, who was playing in his 50th match for WHS, led the team onto the field, but his special day was blighted when he was sent off seven minutes into the second half for foul play. Windhoek Gymnasium won their fair share of possession from the set pieces but struggled to break through WHS’s committed defence. WHS on the other hand made full use of the chances that came their way, attacking from all corners of the field and ran in five great tries.WHS’s try scorers were eighthman Wian Conradie, flyhalf Chris Arries, lock Sven Reimers, centre Ethan Beukes and flanker Charlie Fourie, while Chris Arries added three conversions. For Windhoek Gymnasium, fullback Divan Rossouw, wing Leon Feris and flyhalf PJ Singaram scored tries, while Singaram added two conversions. WHS’s eighthman Wian Conradie was elected as the Forward of the Tournament while WHS flyhalf Chris Arries won the Back of the Tournament award. With the victory WHS underlined their dominance of the competition, since they have now won the Super League 15 times over the past 18 years.WINDHOEK GYMNASIUMA GROWING FORCEWindhoek Gymnasium however is a growing force as they dominated the younger age group categories. They reached the Under-11 A, Under-13 A, Under-14 A and Under-15 A finals, winning two titles, drawing one and losing one. In the Under-15 A final, Windhoek Gymnasium beat WHS 24-12, after leading 14-7 at halftime. Windhoek Gymnasium took a 14-0 lead after two tries by centre Marco de Vos, while WHS opened their account when centre Zian Muller, cut through the defence to dot down.WHS narrowed the gap to 17-12 after a try by flanker Johannes Theron early in the second half, but wing Lethabo Pereko sealed Windhoek Gymnasium’s victory with a great try behind the posts.Gymnasium’s flyhalf Henrique Olivier added three conversions and a penalty, while WHS’s flyhalf Tristan Mouton added one conversion. The Under-14 A title was shared by Windhoek Gymnasium and Elnatan after they played to a 12-12 draw in the final. For Elnatan, flyhalf PW Steenkamp and prop Dalla Joubert scored tries with scrumhalf Janneman Lamprecht adding a conversion, while Gymnasium’s points came via two tries by centre Chrischen Olivier and flyhalf Frederick van Zyl, who added a conversion.In the Under-13 A final, Windhoek Gymnasium beat Pionierspark 17-15 and in the Under-11 A final, Pionierspark beat Windhoek Gymnasium 3-0. It was the 21st consecutive year that Metropolitan Namibia had sponsored the tournament which has grown into the biggest schools’ rugby tournament in the country. This year’s sponsorship amounted to about N$130 000. The results of the other finals were as follows:U19 D: WHS IV 50 Windhoek Gymnasium III 3U19 Super Plate: Otji’s Rugby 15 Elnatan 8 U13 B: Ruimte U13 A 31 KPS U13 A 29U14 B: Windhoek Gymnasium U14 B 17 PK de Villiers U14 14U15 B: Etosha U15 25 Moria U15 24U19 C: Namib High I 5 HTS III 3U19 B: WHS II 36 Windhoek Gymnasium II 5 U19 A: Dr Lemmer I 20 Tsumeb Gymnasium I 12
