Otniel Hembapu
WINDHOEK – National rugby second stringers, Windhoek Draught Welwitschias, will today continue with their hunt for a second victory in the ongoing SuperSport Rugby Challenge when they face South African outfit Xerox Golden Lions XV away at the Wits Rugby Stadium in Johannesburg.
The Namibian lads have so far only recoded one win from a total of six matches played in this year’s competition, having beaten Hino Valke 34-24 a few weeks ago.
It has also not been a few easy weeks for the Lions, who lost last weekend to the Pumas, and will this weekend be out to try and savage some lost momentum when they face the Namibians in their backyard.
It should be an exciting battle where both teams will be out trying to get their campaigns back on track, with the Welwitschias eager to secure a second victory of the competition while the Lions will be aiming to remain in touching distance of the top two outfits on the log table.
The Welwitschias, who are drawn in the Northern group of the competition alongside Blue Bulls, Golden Lions, Pumas and Valke, are still rooted to the bottom of the Pool log table with 7 points while the Lions are sitting third on the log with 13 points from two wins so far.
Namibia endured a tough ride during last year’s edition, which saw the Welwitschias winning only one match from their eight outings in total. The SuperSport Rugby Challenge is the secondary domestic rugby union competition in South Africa and the long-term successor of the Vodacom Cup competition. The competition is organised by the South African Rugby Union (SARU) and features all fourteen South African provincial unions plus the Welwitschias.
For this year, the format of the tournament will again see five teams battle it out in each of the North, South and Central pools, with all 14 unions and Namibia taking part in another exciting edition.