Unam Steenbokkies beat Montego United 31-10 to finish at the top of the log and complete an unbeaten league campaign in the women’s rugby league on Saturday.
As the league winners, Unam now go directly through to the final, but United, who finished third on the log, still have a chance of making the final as they will now take on second-placed Wanderers in a single semifinal in a fortnight’s time.
On Saturday, Unam dominated the forward exchanges with their heavier pack, but United gave a great defensive display, tackling with courage and conviction, and showed a vast improvement since losing 63-7 to Unam in their first round encounter a fortnight ago.
Unam opened the scoring after five minutes when lock Machane Beukes rounded off a backline attack to go over in the corner.
Unam continued to pressurise United’s defence and prop Uetusuvera Kaapama finally crashed over for a try, and with Michelle Slinger adding the conversion, they went 12-0 ahead.
Unam winger Fiola Vliete was a constant danger with her pace down the left wing and she finally broke clear of the defence, breaking through a few tackles to complete a great solo try, and with Slinger adding the conversion, Unam went into halftime with a healthy 17-0 lead.
United, however, came back with determination and opened their account when eighthwoman Nicole Philander crashed over after a storming run through the midfield.
Unam, however, finished stronger and further tries by Kaapama and Vliete put them well ahead, before a great solo try by United centre Charlize Basson made the final score 31-10.
United coach Geraldine Louw said she was encouraged by their performance despite the defeat.
“I think it was a great game for us – we came with the correct mindset and you could see the girls were hungry for this game. We had a very slow start at the beginning of the season, but I always said this is a building phase for us and we would really like to play much more games if we can get that in the future,” she said.
“Yes we lost 31-10, but I think the final score doesn’t tell the whole story and it could have gone both ways,” she added.
The result saw Unam finishing their campaign on top of the log on 45 points, while Wanderers Bokkies, who still have a match in hand, are second on 31. United, finished their campaign in third place on 15 points, two ahead of Reho Falcon, to clinch a semifinal showdown against Wanderers which will be held on 19 September.
Wanderers will enter their semifinal as the favourites after they comfortably beat United 37-0 in 11 July, but Louw said they are looking forward to the match.
“We are pretty excited about the semis – there’s a lot of work that we still need to do and then there are a lot of notes that I took today, about things we have to work on, so we need to start focussing on those points. The semis won’t be easy, it’s always tough against Wanderers, but we are going to prepare and see what we can get,” she said.
