Carlos Kambaekwa
Windhoek-Western Suburbs, Namibia’s representatives in this year’s South African Provincial Club Rugby Championship, the renowned Gold Cup, are making good strides in the highly competitive tournament.
The Khomasdalers opened their assault in the round robin mini league preliminaries with a home defeat against the visiting Go Nutz College Rangers a fortnight ago before losing to Rose United champions in last weekend’s action away from home.
Last weekend’s preparations were marred by a few logistical hiccups that saw the team’s scheduled training session cancelled after the traveling entourage arrived late, as a result of a delayed flight.
The team could only jet out of Windhoek at 17h00, instead of the initial scheduled take-off at 17h00 – leaving the team to arrive at their hotel at 20h00 on Friday evening.
To make matters worse, the team had to undertake a further one-hour travel to Wellington, the venue for their match against Wellington Roses – thus affecting their lunch-hour.
On the field of play, the visitors struggled to adjust to the hard surface on the pitch, as they were chasing shadows, with the hosts enjoying the lion’s share of ball possession for long periods.
Despite the hosts visiting the whitewash on no fewer than three occasions in the second half – the Namibians managed to regroup, responding with two converted tries of their own via the quick hands of Nikin Cloete and Justin Nel. The latter added to the tally from the resultant conversions.
Final score: 24-43.
Suburbs welcome North West Province champions, mining team Sishen Rugby Club, at the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek on Saturday.
The match serves as a curtain-raiser for the Welwitschias’ penultimate clash against SW Districts in the Currie Cup Division One clash. The Namibians are perched 4th on the five-team round robin Pool-D.