• Rugby

Wanderers wins the final that matters

• 3 Days Ago 16 September 2024

FNB Wanderers are back as the national champion club after an impressive display in an enthralling 2024 Namibia Rugby Union premier league final against FNB Unam on Saturday.

The collective advantage in big-match experience, as well as the superior kicking game enabled by Denzo Bruwer’s talented boot led the way to FNB Wanderers’ seemingly inevitable march to a 45-20 win.

There was a similarity to the strategies of their previous 2022 triumph, when Bruwer was at full-back and André van der Berg dictated terms with 23 points in a 51-31 dismantling of Unam – although this year Wanderers were unable to also add the NRU reserve and NRU women’s league titles as they did two years ago.

On Saturday, Unam fought valiantly without potentially influential stalwarts such as lock Mahepisa Tjeriko, centre Lesley Klim and number 8 Handre Bezuidenhout, but besides such hypotheticals, the student team was simply overpowered.

There was a middle period before and after half-time when the White Stallions were vulnerable with just 13 men, as centre Danco Burger and flank Darius von Solms were both sin-binned.

Unam were placed strongly on the attack with a scrum feed under the posts, knowing that enforcing a penalty try would also cost their opponents another yellow card – but instead Wanderers, leading 11-8, escaped from jail winning a vital penalty.

Not only did Wanderers not concede points while two players down – a long-range penalty by fly-half Bruwer that brought the half-time whistle to 14-8 was the only change on the scoreboard.

Unam captain Alcino Izaacs was gracious in his post-match interview: “We came, we fought, Wanderers took the punches, but they absorbed it better than we did and in the end, they flourished and they blew us away at the end.”

Jacques Theron, Wanderers scrum-half and captain, said he is proud of his team. “Last year we had a tough break coming second (losing the final 29-30 against Trustco United through Renier Benade’s famous last-minute penalty). The boys showed throughout the entire year how much we wanted this, and today we got it.”

The player of the match award was shared between Wanderers backs Jurgen Meyer and Natie van Rensburg, who both praised the overall team effort.

“It was not an easy year, but we had plenty of guys who carried us up to this point who can’t be with us today due to injury or other circumstances,” Van Rensburg said.

In 2024, Meyer emerged from scoring two tries in last year’s Standard Bank U19 Super League final for Samsung WHS to possibly the fastest player in senior club rugby this season. He said: “I am honoured to be playing alongside big World Cup players who I had been looking up to as a school boy. I would not have been able to achieve this without them, as well as Wanderers’ great coaching team.”

Big moments

Jurgen Meyer opened the scoring within two minutes from the kick-off, following a line-out steal collected by hooker Obert Nortje, a strong line-break by Van Rensburg and quick recycling to move the ball through the hands of Theron, Johan Deysel and Danco Burger to Meyer, who freed himself with an audacious hand-off of Alcino Izaacs.

A Denzo Bruwer dropped goal and penalty put Wanderers 11-0 ahead after 12 minutes. Unam then lost fly-half Raschano van Rooi to a head injury, after a clash with the hip of Wanderers nr 8 Anton Steenkamp, to be replaced by Johannes Mwenyo after 19 minutes.

Unam got on the board with a Aljarreau Zaahl penalty, followed by the unconverted try by flank Abraham Ilonga with a determined run to the right corner (11-8).

Yellow cards to Burger (after 28 minutes) and Von Solms (34 minutes, deliberate hands in the ruck) suddenly put Wanderers on the back foot, but somehow they survived to work Bruwer back into striking range, adding a penalty from the 10-metre line (half-time 14-8). Part of their escape was Bruwer’s outrageous goal-line kick-off that bounced out on the Unam 10-metre line.

Zaahl missed a second penalty (besides the earlier conversion), before Meyer was twice sent away on long runs that first ended in a successful Bruwer penalty and then a converted Danco Burger try (24-8).

Defensive pressure on Unam led to a turnover and Meyer kicking through and chasing, forcing his opponent Quirione Majiedt to concede a penalty try (31-8).

Tries by two of Unam’s fighters – centre Camlo Martin and flank Rowan Jansen – brought them back to 20-38, but Wanderers were irrepressible as wing Nandivatu Karuuombe scored their last two converted tries – firstly off a Bruwer kick-chase and then an interception in midfield.

Scorers

Unam 20: Tries by Abraham Ilonga, Camlo Martin and Rowan Jansen. Aljarreau Zaahl kicked one penalty and one conversion.

Wanderers 45: Tries by Jurgen Meyer and Nandivatu Karuuombe (2), a penalty try and by Danco Burger. Denzo Bruwer kicked three conversions, three penalties and a dropped goal.