Wanderers win JSB Club Champs

Wanderers beat Grootfontein 8-3 in a tight final to win the inaugural JSB Rugby Club Championships title on Saturday. 

In a close encounter between two evenly-matched teams, Grootfontein took an early 3-0 lead through a first half penalty, but Wanderers struck back with a second half try and penalty to win the title and the first prize of N$25 000 while Grootfontein won the runners-up prize of N$15 000.

Wanderers reached the final after a narrow 7-5 victory against Unam in the semifinals, while Grootfontein beat United 19-12 in the other semi. 

Earlier, United finished on top of the log after winning all their matches during the group stages. They beat Grootfontein 12-0, Unam 10-7, Western Suburbs 3-0, Wanderers 7-0, and Dolphins 10-7 to top the log on 27 points.

Wanderers finished second on 25 points after four wins and one defeat, while Unam came third on 18 points after three wins and two defeats. Grootfontein finished fourth on 12 points to book the final semifinal spot after two wins and three defeats. Dolphins on five points and Western Suburbs on three made up the rear.

Wanderers coach Dirk Human said their victory came at quite a cost. 

“I think the guys dug deep. It was a long day and there were a lot of injuries during the day as well, so we lost a lot of guys, while we also lost some guys last week in a friendly against United,” he said.

“We had to dig deep, the guys fought throughout and at the end of the day, they stuck in the fight all the way till the end,” he said. Human said their team was quite depleted. 

“This is a very young side that we fielded today. There were a lot of reserve league players, while a lot of our players are still taking time off and a lot of them are with the national team in Uganda. So we had to dig deep, but the guys showed a lot of character, and it shows that we’ve built some depth over the past few seasons,” he said.

Wanderers lost this year’s Premier League title to Kudus, but Human said they are already planning and working ahead for next season’s title challenge. 

“Hopefully when we start the next league season, we can build on this and the depth will be there. I think the country is struggling with a lack of props, and I think that will be a big concern during the league. But we will build on this, we will go back to the drawing board and search for the next league title,” he said.

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