Wanderers wallop Unam

AN impressive Wanderers side thrashed Unam 73-31 to stay within touch of the leaders in the MTC Rugby Premier League on Saturday.

Wanderers ran in 11 tries, while right wing Heico Prinsloo had a personal tally of 26 points, consisting of two tries and eight conversions. Wanderers’ forwards laid the foundation for the victory with a powerful display in the scrums, where Unam struggled all afternoon, while they dominated the rucks and mauls. Lock Heino Senekal and flanker Tinus du Plessis stood out, while eighthman PJ van Lill had a great game, creating numerous tries with his storming runs, while he also touched down once himself. Left wing Francois Lensing scored three tries and a conversion, while the other try scorers were prop Johnny Redelinghuys, flanker Alberto Engelbrecht, centre Dirk Human, scrumhalf Pieter Rossouw and replacement forward Wors Engelbrecht. Wanderers got off to a great start as Redelinghuis barged over for a converted try in the first minute, but Unam drew level through a try by flyhalf Granville Diergaardt converted by fullback Marques Bezuidenhout after 12m.Unam defended courageously but Wanderers’ forwards gradually wore their opponents down and three more tries gave them a 28-7 lead at halftime. After the break it was one-way traffic as Wanderers attacked from all corners of the field, but Unam contributed to their downfall with some shoddy defending. With 15 minutes remaining Wanderers had raced into a 68-12 lead, but Unam never gave up and fought back with three late tries to grab a bonus point. For Unam, flanker Fred van Wyk scored two tries and flyhalf Granville Diergaardt, eighthman Dwaine Henckert and wing Cameron Klassen one each, while Bezuidenhout added three conversions. The victory saw Wanderers collecting five points to take their total to 31 points, while they remained third on the log.Reho Falcon maintained their lead at the top after beating United 28-19 in Rehoboth. Falcons scored four tries to United’s one to grab an extra bonus point and they now lead the log with 34 points. In a high scoring match in Mariental, the home team pipped Rehoboth 42-40 to maintain their second position on the log on 33 points, while Rehoboth dropped down to fourth. In Narraville, Kudus and Western Suburbs played to a 29-29 draw, although Kudus won the try count 4-2 to grab a bonus point. The results of First League matches were as follows: Mariental II 45-15 Rehoboth II; Wanderers II 35-24 Unam II; Reho Falcon II 10-13 United II; Kudus II 10-18 Western Suburbs II. – www.namibiasport.com