Falcons dash United’s hopes

FNB Reho Falcon dashed Trustco United’s semifinal hopes with a 49-47 victory in their Windhoek Lager Rugby Premier League match at Rehoboth on Saturday. 

United had to beat Falcons by at least 49 points to overtake FNB Grootfontein into fourth spot on the log, but in the end they never got close to the target as Falcons took the lead from the start to win a high-scoring match. 

Falcons, who led 21-14 at halftime, eventually ran in six tries, through left wing Enrique Husselmann, flyhalf Casey Beukes, scrumhalf Brian Bayer, lock forwards Jerome Schuman and Tony Isaacs, and hooker Zadian Cambell, while fullback Ashton van Wyk added five conversions and three penalties for a personal tally of 19 points. 

United won the try count with seven tries, of which flyhalf Hanreco van Zyl converted six, but they conceded three unneccessary penalties, which eventually cost them the game. 

For United, captain JD Nel, playing in the unusual position of lock, had a great game scoring three tries, while centre Xavier Mouton scored two, and scrumhalf Elzandro van Wyk and eighthman Rudi Pieters one each. 

The result sees United finishing fifth on the log on 42 points – three behind Grootfontein, while Falcons completed their league campaign in sixth position, just behind United on 41 points. 

In another match at Rehoboth, FNB Kudus beat FNB Rehoboth 29-19 to finish third on the log. 

For Kudus, left wing Aston Mukwiilongo scored two tries and rightwing Paulo Andrews and flanker Ja-Tamson van den Berg one each, while flyhalf Kyle Wentzel added three conversions and substitute back Aurelio Plato one penalty. 

Rehoboth scored three tries through flanker Chase Diergaardt, substitute back Manfred Garoeb and centre Miquel Busch, who added two conversions.

The result saw Kudus finishing third on the log on 62 points, while Rehoboth finished seventh on 35 points. 

FNB Unam, who finished on top of the log on 77 points, will now play Grootfontein in the semifinals on Saturday, while second-placed FNB Wanderers (75 points) will meet Kudus in the other semi.