Unam, Wanderers roll on 

Premier League pacesetters FNB Unam and FNB Wanderers both recorded convincing wins, while United moved closer to the top four knockout stages after Round 13 action of the Windhoek Lager Premier Rugby League on Saturday. 

Unam beat FNB Rehoboth 47-7 at home, Wanderers beat FNB Reho Falcon  40-23 away, United beat FNB Western Suburbs 41-28 at home, and FNB Kudus beat Simonis Storm Dolphins 57-18 at Walvis Bay. 

At the Unam Stadium, the home side got off to a great start when Camlo Martin scored within the first minute, and two more expansive tries by his centre partner Lesley Klim and flanker Gilad Plaatjies put them 19-0 ahead after just 10 minutes. 

They went 26-0 ahead when they were awarded a penalty try after their pack steamrolled Rehoboth in a scrum, but the visitors finally opened their account when lock Charl Freygang barged over from a maul.

Unam were soon back in their stride though, running in spectacular tries by flanker Gilad Plaatjies and scrumhalf Willon du Plessis to charge into a 40-7 lead by halftime.

Martin went over for his second try after a great break by Klim early in the second half, but Rehoboth showed much more commitment and determined defence after the break, to keep Unam at bay for the rest of the match. 

The win put Unam on 61 points at the top of the log, while Wanderers moved up to 53 after a commanding victory against Falcons.

Wanderers ran in four first half tries by to take a 23-0 lead at halftime, and added two more after the break to ease to victory. Wanderers’ try scorers were  right wing Julian Afrikaner (two), centre Romano van Wyk, eighthman Driaan Vorster, hooker Darius von Solms and substitute back Warren Ludwig, while flyhalf Geraldo Beukes converted five of the six tries.

Falcons replied with two tries by centre Nando Dentlinger and flanker Keenan Basson, while left wing Enrique Husselmann converted both and added three penalties. 

At Trustco United Park, the home side, meanwhile, kept their hopes of a place in the knockouts alive with a 41-28 win against Suburbs. 

With their forwards gaining the ascendancy early on, United gradually turned their possession into points. Hooker, Callie Swanepoel opened their account when he went over from a lineout maul, and when centre JC Nel and right wing Tim van Wyk finished off backline attacks they went 17-0 ahead. 

Flyhalf Rudi Pretorius opened Suburbs’ account when he jinxed his way over the line, but another Swanepoel try from a lineout maul put United 22-7 ahead at the break. 

Suburbs put in a much better performance after the break, and in fact won the second half 21-19, but they couldn’t wipe out the backlog as United eased to victory. 

Suburbs scored three more tries through prop Bolle Kaverua, right wing Shawn Mowers and centre Morgan Esterhuizen, while flyhalf Pretorius converted all four for a personal tally of 13 points.

For United, Swanepoel completed his hattrick of tries, while Van Wyk scored a second and lock Zander Bronckhorst also went over, while Jahno du Plessis added two conversions and Hanreco van Zyl one.

The win put Unitedup to fifth position on the log on 31 points, just a point behind Grootfontein who were inactive. 

FNB Kudus, meanwhile, remained third on 48 points after beating SS Dolphins 57-18 at the coast. 

Kudus scored nine tries through left wing Suramie Kambombo (three), fullback Aston Mukwilongo (two) and right wing Lucio Isaacs, eighthman Ja-Tamson van den Bergh, replacement back Diago Davids, and a penalty try, while centre Scott Winborn added five conversions and flyhalf Kyle Wentzel one. 

For Dolphins, rightwing Jennery Xamaseb scored two tries, while scrumhalf Kenan Walters added a conversion and two penalties.