Gymnasium Lions enter semi-finals unbeaten

Andrew Poolman
  • 2 Years Ago 12 September 2022
Windhoek Gymnasium's first rugby team survived a late onslaught by visiting Walvis Bay Private High School (WBPHS) on Saturday before winning their clash 31-24.

The Lions won their sixth and final match in the Standard Bank under-19 Super League and will be confident ahead of the semi-finals, scheduled for this coming weekend, as they took the maximum league points in every match so far this season.

Gymnasium gradually gained control on the score board and led 17-3 at half-time, before adding two more converted tries to go 31-3 ahead.

Staring down an embarrassing result in front of their rousing travelling group of supporters, WBPHS rallied to add 21 unanswered points, as they ultimately ran out of time to put more pressure on Gymnasium.

For the winning team, scrum half Elzandro van Wyk, full back Divan Steyn and left wing Lu-Hendro de Waal scored tries off attacking moves from first-phase possession, while flank Ruan Agenbag scored two tries off the back of their line-out maul. Fly half JW Visagie landed one conversion before outside centre William Klazen took over and landed two from two attempts.

Walvis Bay number eight and captain Krynauw Bouwer scored two tries from close range, while scrum half JD Rossouw also reached the try line to trigger their second-half comeback. Fly half Michael Koopman had a lawless day off the kicking tee (three conversions, one penalty).

At Swakopmund

Defending title holders (2019 and 2018) Windhoek Affies overcame Pro-Ed Academy by 22-0 at Swakopmund.

The Affies try-scorers were flank SG Maritz, scrum half André Siepker, wing Nico Tromp and hooker Delano van den Berg, with Siepker adding one conversion.

Affies coach Johan Zaayman said: “It was quite a hard match; always difficult on the opposition’s home field, especially with emotions involved such as the final home match for their grade 12 players.

“Pro-Ed gave their all, but fortunately we were able to handle the pressure. We had all of the territorial advantage and did almost all of the playing, but Pro-Ed defended like tigers. I must compliment my players for continuing until we managed to break down their resistance.

“We had three more try-scoring opportunities in the first half that we did not convert, putting unnecessary pressure on ourselves. At the end of the day, our control of possession and solid tight phases were made to count.”

At Rehoboth

Number eight André Brandt scored three tries for Moria Private School, as the visitors from Outjo defeated Dr Lemmer’s first team by 44-17 at Rehoboth.

Tries by flank Kevin Germishuys and prop Shane Montgomery were further results of Moria’s edge in the forwards pack, while wing Tollie Tjipute added two more to his collection for the season.

Fly half Christof Steenkamp added the kicking points for the Outjo team. Steenkamp and Brandt were the school’s two players selected for the Namibia under-18 schools team to the South African academy week earlier this year.

Meanwhile, following an unresolved dispute over Windhoek High School's use of a player - who turns 20 in December - in the under-19 super league, the Namibia Secondary Schools Rugby management is yet to confirm the final log positions that will determine the composition for the semi-finals this coming weekend.