The Windhoek Lager Rugby Premier League resumes tomorrow after the national test break against Portugal, with the battle for the top four knockout stages intensifying.
FNB Grootfontein are currently in the driving seat at fourth place on the log on 32 points from 12 matches, but FNB Reho Falcon on 30 points from 10 matches and Trustco United on 25 from 11 matches are both still in the hunt for the fourth spot.
Even FNB Western Suburbs, who are seventh on 22 points from 11 matches are still in the running, but their chances are fast receding and they will have to beat United away tomorrow to keep their faint hopes alive.
For United, too, its a crucial match, after their 20-15 defeat to FNB Kudus in their last match, and a win will be crucial for their hopes as coach Robbie Dickson underlined yesterday.
“This weekend is a tipping point for us, next weekend we play Wanderers away, so its do-or-die on Saturday and we must take maximum points,” he said.
“We can still reach the semis, but we will have to start a winning streak now. Grootfontein still have to travel a lot and there are a couple of games where we are targeting maximum points,” he added.
Dickson said they are well-prepared for Suburbs.
“I’m still a bit disappointed with our defeat against Kudus, but we had two good weeks to prepare for Suburbs. They are not doing too well this season but you can never write Suburbs off and we certainly won’t take them lightly. We are at full strength – a few players have some niggles, but nothing serious,” he said.
Dickson said they are aiming to win the forward battle.
“We are aiming to dominate up front and play free running rugby at the back. We are going to use a 7-1 split off the bench, and Callie (Swanepoel) is back at hooker, but we have a young pack and its important that they step up and take leadership,” he said.
Suburbs coach Jacky Bock said they are in a rebuilding phase, while they also have a few injuries.
“Obviously it’s going to be a tough match and we have a few injuries and players who are sick, but we are well prepared and good to go. We lost 14 players who retired or went to other clubs so we lost a lot of experience and had to rebuild with a young squad, but they are putting their hands up and improving all the time,” he said.
United won their first leg encounter 34-23 at Suburbs Park on 13 April, but Suburbs have improved since then, beating Kudus and Reho Falcon amongst others, before losing 34-26 in their last match against Wanderers a fortnight ago.
Bock, however, said they could have beaten FNB Wanderers had they taken their chances.
“That defeat to Wanderers was unnecessary, we had a lot of opportunities, but we lost the match in the first 20 minutes when they went 22-0 ahead and you can’t play catch-up rugby against Wanderers,” he said.
Log leaders FNB Unam, meanwhile, host a struggling FNB Rehoboth who are second last on the log, but Unam coach Russel van Rooi said they will not underestimate Rehoboth.
“All the teams are getting better and more cohesive as the league continues, so we won’t take Rehoboth lightly and it’s always difficult against them. We’ve lost eight players to the national sqad so this match will really test our depth,” he said.
In other matches, FNB Kudus will start as favourites when they host Simonis Storm Dolphins at Walvis Bay, while Wanderers face a tough encounter against a resurgent Falcons at Rehoboth.
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