Wanderers put campaign on track

WANDERERS got their faltering campaign back on track with a convincing 25-16 victory against Western Suburbs on Saturday.

Wanderers were in unfamiliar territory at second last on the log going into the match, but a fine performance by their forwards sealed a deserved victory against the defending champions. Despite the absence of star forwards Heino Senekal (on honeymoon), Heinz Koll (injured) and PJ van Lill (work commitments), Wanderers’ pack laid the foundation for the victory as they scrummed Suburbs into submission, pushing them back metres at a time. Suburbs’ cause was not helped by indiscipline when two players – flanker Desmond Haihambo and prop Hauta Veii – were yellow carded for foul tackles in quick succession, with the result that they only had 13 players on the field at one stage.Despite the backlog, Suburbs defended courageously, but in the end Wanderers just had too much firepower. Wanderers took an early lead when flyhalf Mahco Prinsloo cut the line and sent centre Danie Grobler over for a try, converted by Prinsloo.Scoring opportunities were limited in a hard fought first half as both teams’ defences stood firm.Suburbs flyhalf Justin Nel and Prinsloo traded penalties before Wanderers finally broke through five minutes from the interval as scrumhalf Pieter Rossouw went over for a try from a forward maul, with Prinsloo adding the conversion. Another Prinsloo penalty just before halftime gave Wanderers a comfortable 20-3 lead at halftime. Suburbs’ hopes of a comeback were curtailed when Haihambo and Veii were sent to the sin bin early in the second half. Despite their numerical disadvantage, Suburbs defended superbly and Nel added another penalty to make the score 20-6.In the final quarter, Suburbs started attacking from all corners of the field and their hooker Delano Coetzee went over for a fine try when he popped up in the backline to finish off a backline move in the left hand corner. Nel missed the conversion, but Suburbs were back in the game at 20-11.Wanderers fought back and prop Johnny Redelinghuys went over for a try after he followed up a kick ahead which that bounced into his path.Suburbs’ captain Vaughn Pietersen rounded off a superb counterattack with a try in the right hand corner but it was too little too late as Wanderers held out for a 25-16 victory.In Rehoboth, United beat Rehoboth Rugby Club by exactly the same score – 25-16 – to move clear at the top of the log. Reho Falcon thrashed bottom club Jaguars 76-3 in Windhoek, while Kudus pulled off a valuable 17-15 away victory against Unam at the Unam Stadium.- Namibia Sport