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Home / Suburbs out to break UNAM’s stranglehold on domestic rugby
Suburbs out to break UNAM’s stranglehold on domestic rugby
2018-01-05Staff Report 2 Carlos Kambaekwa Windhoek-Khomasdal-based outfit Western Suburbs ranks among the best rugby clubs in the skewed history of domestic rugby and the club is arguably the most successful team in the country’s flagship league over the last couple of years. Suburbs represented Namibia at the highly competitive prestigious Gold Cup Club Rugby Championship in neigbouring South Africa last year. Unlike their fellow countrymen FNB Wanderers, who found the going tough in the preliminary stages of the provincial mini round-robin tournament, the exciting Khomsdalers acquitted themselves well under trying circumstances and even though Walter Don’s youthful brigade failed to manufacture a single victory – the team certainly came out with flying colours. Suburbs finished runner up in the highly competitive Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) Premier League behind the untouchable UNAM Rugby 15. The students have won the coveted league title for three successive seasons but were denied the chance to represent their motherland through a highly debatable technicality. Johan Diergaardt’s fired up students were deemed ineligible for participation because the competition’s rules do not make provision for university teams to enter the competition. This unfortunate scenario opened the door for second-placed Suburbs to be thrown into the lions’ den at the last minute – a task the green and whites stripped outfit grabbed with both hands – holding their own against their more fancied South African opponents. Suburbs started off their leaguer campaign with a relatively new team of relatively young and inexperienced players but managed to weather the storm by finishing strongly in the national four team play-offs – only to fall short against eventual champions UNAM. With both their cross- town bitter rivals United and Wanderers having blown hot and cold over the last few seasons – it is now up to the rejuvenated Suburbs to stage a serious challenge if they are to break the stronghold on Johan Diergaardts’s seemingly unstoppable clever boys. 2018-01-05Staff Report 2
