Pieter Jan Strydom, flank and captain of Namibia Under 16, was named player of the match after he win against Zimbabwe. Photo contributed
Pieter Jan Strydom, flank and captain of Namibia Under 16, was named player of the match after he win against Zimbabwe. Photo contributed

Two opening rugby wins at schools’ week

• Strong start for Namibian rugby teams
The Namibia Secondary Schools Rugby (NSSR) teams both had success on match day one.
Andrew Poolman
The under-13 Craven Week rugby tournament got underway in Pietermaritzburg on Monday morning, with the barefooted Namibian primary school boys taking to the field for the opening match at 08:00.

Their opponents, Border Country Districts, are not among the strongest unions in South Africa, as the Namibians took control with two early tries to eventually win the match by 28 points to 12.

Le-Roy Basson (St. Joseph’s Primary) scored the first try from an off-load by his centre partner, Janco Duvenhage (Walvis Bay Private School).

A long-range try by the vice captain and leftwing Alessandro Kathindi of Walvis Bay Primary School from inside his own half came next, before further tries from wing Keanan Abraham (Ruimte) and prop Julian van Wyk (Rehoboth Primary) took the match further away from the Eastern Cape side.

Flyhalf Duan Kruger (Pionierspark) landed each of his four conversions.

Grant Khomo

Meanwhile, Namibia also got off to a winning start at the Grant Khomo under-16 rugby week held in Stellenbosch.

Namibia trailed neighbouring Zimbabwe 5-10 at half-time, but one converted try in the second half was enough to earn them a narrow 12 to 10 win.

Centre Hanré Cocklin (Windhoek Gymnasium) first scored in the right-hand corner, before leftwing Dirk Farmer (Windhoek Gymnasium) delivered an excellent finish just before being tackled into touch behind the corner flag.

The difficult conversion kick that flyhalf William Beukes (WHS) landed from the touchline proved to be the decisive points.

Flank Pieter Jan Strydom (WHS), the team captain playing with a protective mask to cover a cut on his face, was named player of the match.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-30

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