Kudus triumph in 10-a-side rugby

FNB Kudu Rugby Club’s first team showed irrepressible confidence on their way to winning the Trustco United 10-a-side premier division in Windhoek on Saturday.

Coach Gawan Esterhuizen’s men beat FNB Wanderers 21-7 in a tightly contested final under floodlights, taking home the N$10 000 prize money put up by the tournament’s main sponsors, Windhoek Draught and Brand Plan.

Among the revelations in the tournament were Kudus’ off-season acquisitions of fly half Geraldo Beukes (from FNB Rehoboth), as well as the former FNB Grootfontein duo of full back Irongwa 'Zulu' Atshivudhi and Mogamat Emamdien (loose forward).

Beukes scored the first try in the final, picking up and darting over from close range after drives by his forwards Anthony Hoebeb and Gregory Namaseb, and converted it himself.

Wanderers worked over their hooker Dandre Schreuder from a tapped penalty in the left corner shortly afterwards, for an unconverted try (half-time 7-5).



Runaway sprint

A sharp line-break from Wanderers centre DJ Holtzhausen laid the foundation for Wanderers’ unconverted try by lock Johan Meyer.

Kudus responded when centre Paolo Andrews rounded off a move, and from the next kick-off, wing Aston Mukwiilongo displayed his speed with a runaway sprint from within his own half, as the Walvis Bay team raced away to a 21-10 lead.

Wanderers were once again brought into an attacking position with a Holtzhausen break which led to a five-metre scrum feed, from which scrumhalf Louis Karsten broke through to score, converted by Kieron Diergaardt. However, Wanderers ran out of time as the title went to the Walvis Bay side.

The shortened format of 10-a-side suggests that this weekend provided only an early glimpse of what is to come in the season ahead.

The absence of last year’s Trustco 10s champions FNB Unam, FNB Western Suburbs, FNB Rehoboth and FNB Reho Falcon, as well as the non-release of the national squad players, also indicates that this World Cup rugby year has plenty more to come.



Reserve division

A total of 10 teams, divided into two groups, made the reserve division the most hotly contested.

Hosts United II won the final 19-12 against Kudus II. Tries by John Nangolo, Philip Shimbarashe and Luan Bekker made the difference, with one conversion by Renier Benade. Kudus II replied with two tries by centre Ronaldo Diergaardt.

Kudus’ second team earlier delivered a surprise when eliminating Wanderers II in the semi-final, while United II reached the final by beating a resilient Mariental team 12-10.



Women’s division

The women’s final went into after-time, before the United women earned the N$5 000 with a 10-7 result against Wanderers.

After a pointless first half, Wanderers took the lead with a try by Yanneke Lawrence, converted by Suné Wittmann. With the last seconds of the match running out, Wanderers allowed a loose ball out wide to bounce within reach of Mbitjita Matuzee for a 70-metre run to score under the posts and convert, forcing the sudden-death extra time.

A disallowed try then came to the disappointment of United, before they were awarded a penalty in front of the posts which Michelle Slinger converted with a drop-kick for the winning points.

Earlier, Kudus recorded a 14-12 win in the pool match against Wanderers, but a subtracted league point - due to a yellow card - cost them a place in the final.