Suburbs put Kudus to the sword
The coastal side struggled against their Windhoek opponents, who moved up to second on the log.
Andrew Poolman – FNB Western Suburbs thoroughly outclassed their coastal visitors Kudus by 48-3 in their Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) premier league match at Suburbs Park in Khomasdal on Saturday.
The Walvis Bay team’s lack of fitness was exposed, while the capital’s altitude likely also contributed the Kudus forwards already appearing tired before halftime.
Kudus tried their best to use the weight advantage of their forward pack, putting phases together with one-off attacking runners crashing into the Suburbs defence, which never gave way.
In contrast, coach Jacky Bock’s Suburbs side gave spectators a great display of all-round attacking rugby, with support players always on hand to keep up the tempo and stretch the Kudus defence further.
Suburbs captain and left wing Gino Wilson should have scored the first try after just five minutes, but the final pass did not go to hand.
The home side nevertheless remained on the attack, forcing a penalty near the goal-line from which flanker Richard Mupewa crashed over for his first try.
Flyhalf Justin Nel converted and also added a penalty.
Another flowing counter-attack, using the width of the field, resulted in Suburbs right wing Dumarcho Hartung being stopped near the goal-line before fullback Ricardo Swartz easily rounded off the try on the next phase.
Nel converted (17-0), before Kudus added their only points of the match through a Leeroy Stevens penalty.
Suburbs secured their four-try bonus point after 39 minutes when outside centre Morgan Esterhuizen was on hand to finish another move near the right-hand corner, which Nel converted for a 24-3 lead at halftime.
The dominance of the home team continued as flanker Vakomboka Kamboo benefited from two great earlier offloads by team mates, after inside centre PJ Walters had provided the line break with a strong run.
Kudus finally found a second breath and put some pressure on the home team through a few lineout mauls, but could not breach the stern defence.
Suburbs’ opportunism was on full display when they scrummed Kudus off their own feed on the Suburbs 22 metre line.
Replacement scrumhalf AJ Kearns broke clean through and although the pass went behind the backline players to his left, the support runners were there in numbers and continued the move for flank Richard Mupewa to score his second of the day. Kudus charged down Nel’s conversion attempt (36-3).
The Suburbs surge for seven tries in the match, to secure two bonus points, were rewarded after 71 and 79 minutes, through wing Dumarcho Hartung and number 8 Tjingairi Katjivi respectively.
• The win, with two bonus points, advances Western Suburbs from fourth to second position on the log.
FNB Unam, as the only unbeaten team, took over the lead from FNB Wanderers with a crushing 83-16 win over FNB Reho Falcon, scoring 13 tries to one.
Grootfontein also scored an impressive 41-31 win over 2019 champions Trustco United at the latter’s ground, scoring six tries against four.
• For results, fixtures, news and log standings, visit fnbrugby.my.na
The Walvis Bay team’s lack of fitness was exposed, while the capital’s altitude likely also contributed the Kudus forwards already appearing tired before halftime.
Kudus tried their best to use the weight advantage of their forward pack, putting phases together with one-off attacking runners crashing into the Suburbs defence, which never gave way.
In contrast, coach Jacky Bock’s Suburbs side gave spectators a great display of all-round attacking rugby, with support players always on hand to keep up the tempo and stretch the Kudus defence further.
Suburbs captain and left wing Gino Wilson should have scored the first try after just five minutes, but the final pass did not go to hand.
The home side nevertheless remained on the attack, forcing a penalty near the goal-line from which flanker Richard Mupewa crashed over for his first try.
Flyhalf Justin Nel converted and also added a penalty.
Another flowing counter-attack, using the width of the field, resulted in Suburbs right wing Dumarcho Hartung being stopped near the goal-line before fullback Ricardo Swartz easily rounded off the try on the next phase.
Nel converted (17-0), before Kudus added their only points of the match through a Leeroy Stevens penalty.
Suburbs secured their four-try bonus point after 39 minutes when outside centre Morgan Esterhuizen was on hand to finish another move near the right-hand corner, which Nel converted for a 24-3 lead at halftime.
The dominance of the home team continued as flanker Vakomboka Kamboo benefited from two great earlier offloads by team mates, after inside centre PJ Walters had provided the line break with a strong run.
Kudus finally found a second breath and put some pressure on the home team through a few lineout mauls, but could not breach the stern defence.
Suburbs’ opportunism was on full display when they scrummed Kudus off their own feed on the Suburbs 22 metre line.
Replacement scrumhalf AJ Kearns broke clean through and although the pass went behind the backline players to his left, the support runners were there in numbers and continued the move for flank Richard Mupewa to score his second of the day. Kudus charged down Nel’s conversion attempt (36-3).
The Suburbs surge for seven tries in the match, to secure two bonus points, were rewarded after 71 and 79 minutes, through wing Dumarcho Hartung and number 8 Tjingairi Katjivi respectively.
• The win, with two bonus points, advances Western Suburbs from fourth to second position on the log.
FNB Unam, as the only unbeaten team, took over the lead from FNB Wanderers with a crushing 83-16 win over FNB Reho Falcon, scoring 13 tries to one.
Grootfontein also scored an impressive 41-31 win over 2019 champions Trustco United at the latter’s ground, scoring six tries against four.
• For results, fixtures, news and log standings, visit fnbrugby.my.na
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