Unam back on top

UNAM won the Namibia Rugby Premier League title for the first time in four years after a convincing 30-20 victory against Western Suburbs on Saturday.

The final had been delayed by a month due to a lengthy disciplinary hearing that eventually saw Suburbs replacing Wanderers in the final, after the latter was found guilty of using a player who was not properly registered in their semi-final victory against Suburbs.

Due to the delay, the players were not at their top level and it was not a very attractive final, but Unams superiority eventually emerged as they closed out the match in the final quarter.

Suburbs, however, gave a good account of themselves and even outscored Unam by three tries to two, but Unam turned the screws in the second half to seal a well-deserved victory.

Suburbs took an early lead when hooker Roderique Victor crashed over from a driving maul, and although Unam flyhalf Delron Brandt reduced the deficit with a penalty, Suburbs went 10-3 ahead when Gino Wilson plucked a cross kick by Justin Nel out of the air to score in the left hand corner.

Brandt once again reduced the gap to 10-9 with two penalties, and Unam finally took the lead just before half-time when centre Alcino Izaacs crashed over after incessant pressure on Suburbs try line. With Brandt adding the conversion, they went ahead for the first time in the match at 16-10.

Suburbs came out attacking at the start of the second half and regained the lead when eighthman Tjingairi Katjivi went over from a maul, and with Ricardo Swartz adding the conversion, they went 17-16 ahead.

A Swartz penalty put them 20-16 ahead but Unam gradually started to take control of the game. An Olivier drop goal after incessant forward pressure reduced the deficit to 20-19, and they regained the lead when Izaacs went over for his second try, diving over in the corner.

Unam dominated possession in the final stages and fullback Chad Plato sealed their victory with two more penalties.

With that, Unam reasserted their dominance of Namibian club rugby after their three-year title-winning run came to an end in 2017. Since then they were the losing finalists to Wanderers and United, but now after appearing in their sixth successive final, they are once again back on top.

Their coach Johan Diergaardt said it was a tough match in difficult circumstances.

“It wasnt one of the greatest games played in Namibia and I think the welfare of the players was not taken into consideration, but we are very thankful that our boys at least could stick it out for the 80 minutes. It was tough and it was hot and I think it was the same for Suburbs, who really brought the game to us. But now its our fourth win from six finals, so we are very happy,” he said.

“We built and we lost a lot of players, but we still managed to stay in the mix, and its just a privilege being here and being with these boys,” he added.

Suburbs coach Jackey Bock said a lack of discipline cost them in the end.

“It was a tough game and I think we basically lost the game through a lack of discipline, and we made a couple of errors during the match, but we gave it our best,” he said, adding that his players would learn from the experience.

“The guys must now just take a rest and gather their thoughts and learn how to win finals. For most of the players this was their first final so its a big learning curve for them and I believe they will learn from this experience.”

Suburbs second team also lost the Reserve League final, going down 32-17 to Kudus II.