Africa-Press – Namibia. UNAM and Wanderers got off to impressive starts as the new rugby Premier League season kicked off on Saturday, while there were also winning starts for Grootfontein and Kudus.
At the Unam field, the home side withstood a strong second half onslaught by Suburbs to win the match 37-25.
Unam seemed set to run away with the match when they streaked into a 29-8 lead at half time, but Suburbs struck back with a tremendous second half effort, during which they outscored Unam by three tries to one.
Suburbs did the early attacking, and after fly-half Justin Nel opened their account with a penalty, eighthman Tjingairi Katjivi broke through Unam’s defence for the opening try to put them 8-0 ahead.
Unam struck back through a penalty by fly-half Delron Brandt and after incessant attacks, flanker Prince Gaoseb went over for an unconverted try as they tied the score at 8-8.
Unam immediately took the lead from the kickoff when Brandt jinxed his way through some poor Suburbs’ tackles to go on a 50m run and dive over under the posts, and with him adding the conversion they went 15-8 ahead.
Another Suburbs error led to Unam’s next try as winger Gino Wilson failed to control a high ball and Lorenzo Louis pounced to send winger Shareave Titus over for a converted try.
Unam continued attacking and after winning several phases, centre Lesley Klim sent winger Darryl Wellman over and with Brandt adding the conversion they took a 29-8 lead at the half-time break.
Suburbs started the second half on the offensive but poor defence once again led to their downfall as Unam eighthman Oderich Mouton pounced onto a loose ball and ran 40m to touch down.
Suburbs launched a stirring comeback and after incessant pressure, winger Wilson and substitute loose forward Vokomboka Kamboo went over for tries to reduce the gap to 34-20.
Another Brandt penalty put Unam 37-20 ahead, but Suburbs finished on the offensive and Wilson went over for his second try to make the final score 37-20.
It was a fine start for Unam, but Suburbs showed that they can also be a force to be reckoned with this season.
Wanderers, meanwhile, got off to a great start with a 61-3 home victory against Reho Falcon, after leading 26-0 at half time.
Wanderers ran in a total of nine tries, with fullback Warren Ludwig, left wing Nandivatu Karuuombe and eighthman and captain Christo van der Merwe scoring two each, and centre Bernie Hugo, scrum-half Jacques Theron and substitute back Ryan Coetzee one each, while fly half Andre van den Berg added eight conversions.
Grootfontein got off to a great start with a 38-7 home victory against United
Grootfontein scored six tries with hooker and captain Wicus Jacobs scoring two, and right wing Amutenya Amutenya, centre Buruxa Geiseb, scrum-half Willem Enslin, and lock Tehan Martinson one try each, while Enslin and fly-half Ronald Deck each added two conversions.
In Walvis Bay, Kudus got off to a winning start after beating Rehoboth 32-15.
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