Wanderers goes top after resilient win

Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) Premier League new log leaders Wanderers had to overcome a resilient Rehoboth by 49-24 to solidify their upward trajectory on Saturday at the Wanderers Field.

The 2018 Premier League Champions Wanderers ran in seven tries, which won them a bonus point and overtook Kudus by three points at the top of the log.

On Saturday, an ill-discipline Wanderers saw one of their players Erik Strauss red-carded while Nandivatu Karuuombe and Almarco Beukes were sent to the sin bin for unsporting behaviours.

Despite two yellows and a red card in the game as well as a fight between a Wanderers and Rehoboth player, which saw the game being stopped earlier, the Windhoek-based team scored their tries through Karuuombe, JC Greyling, Bredell Wessels, Ryan Coetzee and Andre van der Berg whom each ran in a try while

Stefan Hattingh ran in two tries. Van der Berg also converted all the seven tries.

Meanwhile, Rehoboth scored two tries through their substitutes Grant Cloete and Miquel Busch. Geraldo Beukes only converted one but he managed to score three penalties and a drop goal for Rehoboth.

Speaking to the media after the game, Wanderers captain Christo van der Merwe said he was happy with the win but there are still a lot of things to work on.

“I am happy we managed to get to the points and go top of the table but the behaviour displayed in this match is something we are going to work on when we get back to training,” he said.

Wanderers are currently top of the log with 22 points while Kudus are second on 19 points, Unam is third on 14 points, Grootfontein fourth with 12 points, and Western Suburbs are fifth on 11 points.

The sixth position is occupied by Rehoboth with six points while United and Reho Falcons are seventh and eighth respectively on zero points after four matches in the 2022 NRU Premier League season.

The next round of the NRU Premier League will resume on 21 May 2021 in Windhoek, Walvis Bay, Rehoboth and Grootfontein. Still, on Saturday in the reserve league, Wanderers 2 beat Rehoboth 2 by 28-14.