Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Vodacom Blue Bulls won the inaugural Officeconomix Goodwill Challenge with a comprehensive 47-12 victory against the Windhoek Draught Welwitschias on Saturday.
Playing in a festive atmosphere, in front of several thousand fans at a packed Hage Geingob Stadium, the Welwitschias gave a committed performance, but were ultimately outplayed by a slick Bulls side.
The Bulls dominated the set-pieces, to secure a steady stream of possession which they used to good effect, running in seven tries, while flyhalf Juan Mostert added five conversions.
The Welwitschias, on the other hand, had to live off scraps, and were pushed back metres at a time in the scrums, but defended courageously and also showed some attacking enterprise to run in two tries.
The Bulls took the lead after barely two minutes when flanker Jaco Labuschagne crashed over from a forward maul, and when scrumhalf Bernard van der Linde nipped over from a loose maul, they went 14-0 ahead after 14 minutes.
The Welwitschias soon opened their account when hooker Obert Nortje went over from a driving maul, to a roar of approval from the home fans.
They had more chances, with Lorenzo Louis and Darryl Wellman putting in strong runs, while captain Prince Gaoseb knocked on with the tryline abegging, but the Bulls soon regained the initiative, as they spread the ball wide.
Right wing Larry Nkonki turned on the pace to leave JC Greyling trailing in his wake, only to be called back for an earlier infringement, but fullback Richard Kriel soon went over for a try after a slick backline movement. With Mostert adding a great conversion from the touchline they went 21-5 ahead, and after camping in Namibia’s try-line they won a penalty try to take a 28-5 lead into the halftime break.
The Bulls continued where they left off in the second half, with their forwards mauling the Welwitschias, and although the Namibians defended courageously, Labuschagne finally burst over for his second try.
Namibia struck back through centre Lesley Klim who broke though a tackle to touch down and with Delron Brandt adding the conversion they trailed 33-12.
The Welwitschias, however, suffered a blow when loose forwards Oderich Mouton and Cameron Langenhoven were both sin-binned, and with only 13 men on the field, the Bulls immediately took advantage with two tries in two minutes.
Lock forward Marco de Witt went over from a forward drive and then immediately from the restart, centre Tharquin Manuel turned on the speed to cut through Namibia’s backline and dive over under the posts.
Namibia tried hard in the final stages with Gaoseb, Greyling, Klim and Oderich Mouton all putting in strong runs, but the Bulls’ defence stood firm as they held on for a 47-12 victory.
The Welwitschias’ assistant coach Chrysander Botha said it was a good experience for his players.
“It was a big test for the guys and a big experience for our local boys and it just goes to show you can’t play rugby off the back foot the whole time. The Bulls were good in the set pieces, they won the scrums and the line-outs, but that’s what they are known for and they are a professional outfit.
“We need more games like these, our boys need more exposure – we can’t play four club games and then expect our local boys to make a step up and play well against a professional outfit like the Bulls,” he said.
“At times we were good and looked after the ball really well. That’s when we gained momentum in the game, and I think our tails were up at some point, but then we got a couple of yellow cards which put us on the back foot again,” he added.
The Namibian squad will now be announced tomorrow that will leave for a three-week training camp to Stellenbosch, before the squad flies out to France for the final World Cup qualifiers, starting at the end of the month.
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