FNB Wanderers exacted revenge on FNB Kudus with an emphatic 50-38 victory in their JSB Gold Cup match on Saturday.
It was their first encounter since Kudus had beaten Wanderers 50-32 in the Premier League final on 7 June, but this time Wanderers reigned supreme after taking control from the start.
They raced into a 28-0 lead after 30 minutes, and although Kudus managed to close the gap to 42-31 with 10 minutes to go, Wanderers maintained control to seal an impressive victory and go to the top of the log on 12 points.
FNB Unam, meanwhile, beat Trustco United 33-29 to go second on 10 points, while FNB Grootfontein beat FNB Rehoboth 34-27 to join Kudus in third place on seven points each.
At the Wanderers field, the home side took control from the start with their forwards laying a solid platform for their backs to attack from. Left wing Jurgen Meyer opened the scoring with a try converted by Schalk Willem Kuhn after only five minutes, and when flanker Andre Augustyn finished off an attack by scrumhalf Reben Botha, they went 14-0 ahead.
Wanderers’ national centre Danie van der Merwe shone in midfield with his swift attacks and rock-solid defence, and capped off a great game with two tries. He first burst through Kudus’ defence after following up a grubber kick and then turned on the speed to finish off a break by flyhalf Kian Fransman, and with Kuhn converting both, they went 28-0 ahead after 30 minutes.
Kudus finally opened their account when hooker Jarren Koning burst over from a maul, but Wanderers stretched their lead with a converted try by prop Iyambo Tsuuya, before Kudus wing Lucio Isaacs went over in the corner to make the halftime score 35-10.
Kudus made a concerted comeback after the break with tries by lock Carl Freygang and a penalty try, reducing the gap to 35-24, but Kuhn finished off a counter-attack by fullback Irongwa Atshivudhi to put Wanderers 42-24 ahead.
Kudus reduced the gap to 42-31 when scrumhalf Rayshawn Shoombe nipped over from a tap penalty, but a Kuhn penalty and an intercept try by Meyer put Wanderers 50-31 ahead, before substitute back Dolando Vries scored a late converted try for Kudus.
Unam, meanwhile, recorded their second successive win with a hard-fought home victory against United. Unam scored five tries through fullback Cee-Jay Coetzee, rightwing Don Juan Beukes, flanker Rowan Jansen, and lock forwards Abraham Iilonga and Kistings Minyoi, while flyhalf Delron Brandt added four conversions. United also scored five tries through centre Keanan Januarie, leftwing Jandre Esterhuyzen, eighthman JD Nel, flanker Thehard Lintvelt, and substitute back Christo Gresse, but flyhalf Enrique Husselmann could only convert two.
In another tough encounter, Grootfontein got an important away victory against Rehoboth. Grootfontein scored five tries with flyhalf Johannes du Plessis scoring two, and leftwing Lasarus Joseph, flanker Pieter-Daniel Kok and centre Franklin Busch one each, while the latter added three conversions and a penalty.
Rehoboth scored three tries through leftwing Manfed Garoeb, prop Tirique Coetzee and substitute forward Allister Groenewaldt, while centre Miquel Busch added three conversions and two penalties.
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