Despite having built up a five-point lead at the top of the Namibia Premier League rugby log, Trustco United are taking no chances and are determined to remain on their winning ways.
On Saturday they take on fifth-placed Western Suburbs at Suburbs Park and their coach Jood Opperman said they would be aiming for a bonus point victory.
“We have a big lead, but we are aiming to win all our matches, preferably with bonus points, because they can still have a big influence on the final standings,” he said.
“Suburbs have one of the best backlines in the league, but they are struggling up front. But I’m wary of them and we will not take them for granted,” he added.
According to Oppermann, prop Ignus Tripodi is sick and lock Jandre Lamprecht hasn’t fully recovered from injury, while his Mariental-based trio of Johan Adriaanse, Tos Blaauw and Claude Bouwer are unavailable due to work commitments.
United’s returning national players, props Jaco Engels and Casper Viviers, and centres Danie van Wyk and JC Greyling were also not available for selection, but they have a lot of depth and Opperman announced a strong line-up on Thursday.
Niel van Vuuren, Morne Louw and Collen Smith form the front row, with Morne Blom and Stefan Neustad at lock and the loose trio of Petrus Human, Winmar Rust and Naude Neethling.
Pieter Jansen van Vuuren and Robert Dickson are the half-backs; Martin Cronje and Tuna Amutenya the centres; and Nandivatu Karuuombe, Phillip Nashikaku and Stefan Louw the back three.
When these two teams met in the first round, United withstood a late rally to beat Suburbs 27-23 at Trustco United Park.
Suburbs got off to a poor start this season and have only won four of their nine matches to date. They are currently fifth on the log on 21 points – 11 points behind United.
They also had a change in leadership after coach Heinz Koll stepped down in April and was replaced by backline coach and former player Sergio de la Harpe.
Since then Suburbs have done well, going on an unbeaten three-match streak, before losing 27-21 to Wanderers last weekend, and De la Harpe said they were approaching tomorrow’s match with confidence.
“We prepare to win each match and I think we are definitely fitter if you look at all our games – we normally finish stronger while the opposition fades. We are also lighter than United so we will try and run and tire them out,” he said.
De la Harpe said he had a full squad to choose from while he was still waiting to hear if his national players would be available.
“Our national flanker Rodrigues Victor came to practise on Tuesday and said he will play, but I must still find out if the others are available,” he said.
Besides Victor, Suburbs’ other national players are Thomasau Forbes, Shaun Kaizemi, Rathony Becker and Russel van Wyk.
In another enticing encounter on Saturday, third-placed Wanderers on 25 points, host second-placed Unam (27 points) at the Wanderers ground in Pionierspark.
In their first round encounter in Khomasdal, the teams weighed up evenly before Wanderers won a fierce battle 19-15, and another close encounter can be expected.
Fourth-placed Kudus (25 points), meanwhile, are guaranteed a maximum six points after Rehoboth informed the Namibia Rugby Union that they would not be travelling to the coast, due to injuries and a lack of funds.
Rehoboth also didn’t turn up for their match against Unam last week but their coach Eden Meyer said their management had written to the Namibia Rugby Union to try and reschedule the match.
“Before the Unam match we already asked the NRU to reschedule the match because we are struggling with injuries and a lack of finances. We don’t have a sponsor and don’t have money to send two teams to the coast this weekend, but we haven’t withdrawn from the league. We are trying to raise funds so that we can still complete our final two matches against Wanderers and United,” he said.
