Africa-Press – Namibia. Moria Private School will meet Windhoek High School (WHS) in the under-19 schools rugby final after two contrasting victories in Saturday’s semi-finals.
Moria, which has less than 200 pupils, stunned the mighty Windhoek Gymnasium with a 39-34 victory to reach the final for the first time in history, while WHS progressed to the final after a comprehensive 34-15 victory against Tsumeb Gymnasium.
In the first semi-final, Windhoek Gymnasium took an early lead when flanker Lihann Horn burst over from a maul, but Bertus Narib opened Moria’s account with a penalty and when prop Wian Maartens went over from a forward drive, Moria went 8-5 ahead.
A penalty by JD Jankowietz levelled the score at 8-8 but Moria went 15-8 ahead after wing Drikus Maartens intercepted the ball on his tryline and ran the length of the field to dive over for a converted try.
Moria stepped up the tempo and flanker Keyo Kruger crashed over for another try converted by Narib to put them 22-8 ahead at the half-time break.
Moria came out firing after the break and when eighthman Armand Esterhuizen went over for a converted try after several phases they were well ahead at 29-8.
Windhoek Gymnasium made a concerted comeback with rightwing Oliver Seager going over in the corner, but Moria refused to buckle and struck back with a try by flanker Ben Mostert and with Narib converting they went 36-15 ahead.
Windhoek Gymnasium made a desperate comeback, narrowing the gap to 36-34 after tries by hooker Jayvin du Plessis, lock Buhlem Oelofsen and Horn’s second try, but Narib sealed Moria’s victory with a late penalty to send their players and fans into wild scenes of jubilation.
It was the first time they had reached the final and their coaches TW Koorts and Reino du Toit say it was a great achievement.
“We are speechless. We are very happy that the boys showed up today but the job is not done yet, we have another match lying ahead next weekend,” Koorts says.
It was a huge upset bearing in mind the small player pool they have.
“From our school I think we have nine players, while we also used six players from Otjiwarongo and a few other players from the surrounding areas. We’ve got a small school of only 170 children but that’s not an excuse – we show up and we take the big schools on as well,” Du Toit says.
“I don’t think the boys realise what it means for us. It’s the first time in our history that we will play in the final in the 33 years of our school’s existence, so we are very proud. I think the community is right behind us and one could see that the other schools here were also shouting for us so we are very proud,” he adds.
The other semi was more one-sided with WHS gradually wearing Tsumeb down with their strong forward pack.
Tsumeb took the lead through a penalty by flyhalf FJ Fourie, but WHS took control of the forward exchanges and tries by scrumhalf Dominique Isaacs, and eighthman and captain Pieter Strydom put them 15-3 ahead by the break.
Tsumeb reduced the deficit to 15-8 with a try by eighthman and captain Russel Bartlett early in the second half, but WHS took control with two tries in quick succession by flanker Isaiah Kazondovi and substitute back Caleb Buys, while Jurick van der Berg added a consolation try for Tsumeb to make the final score 34-15.
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