Wanderers battle to keep title

WANDERERS delivered an impressive last-minute performance to retain the 2006 premiership rugby title for the third successive year, after forcing United into extra time to win 33-30 at the Hage Geingob Stadium on Saturday.

The full-time score was tied at 30 all, while the half-time score was 18-17 in favour of United. The match came to its climax in the last minutes of normal playing time with Wanderers on the brink of losing the title they won in 2004 and 2005.United were destined for a historic victory to regain the title from their arch-rivals when a fine penalty kick by flyhalf Morne Schreuder saw them leading 27-22, with less than three minutes remaining before the end of the match.Wanderers centre Dean Jacobs turned the tables around with a fantastic try in the last minute of the game to force the match into extra time after bringing it to 27 points apiece.A good build-up led by flanker Jaco Swanepoel, who burst through the middle of the park, resulted in the try.The try evidently shattered the morale of the United players who went into a slow mode, showing no urgency in keeping the momentum, unlike their opponents.If it was not for the miss of substitute Herman Bothma who shaved the post to miss his conversion, Wanderers could have won the game in normal time as there was less than a minute left.In extra time, both sides got penalties to put their scores at 30 all, but Jacobs could have broken the deadlock further if he had put through another penalty a few minutes later.Despite that, another chance was presented to Wanderers and this time made use of it through a well-taken penalty by Bothma to make it 30-33 before the final whistle.United flanker Domingo Kamonga, who has retired from international rugby, said his teammates were not disciplined enough to carry out a consistent performance in the match.”They were the better side because they were more disciplined and made use of their chances,” he said.The other match, which was supposed to pit Jaguars against Grootfontein, could not take place as there are outstanding cases that needs to be dealt with by the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) before that match.In a curtain raiser on the day, a team from Australia, known as Waltchas, lost 22-5 to the second-string side of Wanderers at the same venue.In a qualifying match for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Tunisia beat Kenya 31-10 on Saturday.Tunisia will now play against Namibia on October 7 in a semi-final match in Windhoek, to determine who will play in the final later in the year.The match came to its climax in the last minutes of normal playing time with Wanderers on the brink of losing the title they won in 2004 and 2005.United were destined for a historic victory to regain the title from their arch-rivals when a fine penalty kick by flyhalf Morne Schreuder saw them leading 27-22, with less than three minutes remaining before the end of the match.Wanderers centre Dean Jacobs turned the tables around with a fantastic try in the last minute of the game to force the match into extra time after bringing it to 27 points apiece.A good build-up led by flanker Jaco Swanepoel, who burst through the middle of the park, resulted in the try.The try evidently shattered the morale of the United players who went into a slow mode, showing no urgency in keeping the momentum, unlike their opponents.If it was not for the miss of substitute Herman Bothma who shaved the post to miss his conversion, Wanderers could have won the game in normal time as there was less than a minute left.In extra time, both sides got penalties to put their scores at 30 all, but Jacobs could have broken the deadlock further if he had put through another penalty a few minutes later.Despite that, another chance was presented to Wanderers and this time made use of it through a well-taken penalty by Bothma to make it 30-33 before the final whistle.United flanker Domingo Kamonga, who has retired from international rugby, said his teammates were not disciplined enough to carry out a consistent performance in the match.”They were the better side because they were more disciplined and made use of their chances,” he said.The other match, which was supposed to pit Jaguars against Grootfontein, could not take place as there are outstanding cases that needs to be dealt with by the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) before that match.In a curtain raiser on the day, a team from Australia, known as Waltchas, lost 22-5 to the second-string side of Wanderers at the same venue.In a qualifying match for the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Tunisia beat Kenya 31-10 on Saturday.Tunisia will now play against Namibia on October 7 in a semi-final match in Windhoek, to determine who will play in the final later in the year.