Rugby

Danie Vermeulen has been re-appointed as Namibian rugby coach for a further six months but he will be assisted by Jood Oppermann and Walter Donn as specialist forward and backline coach respectively.

The president of the Namibia Rugby Union Bradley Basson made this announcement on Thursday, saying that their positions would be re-evaluated after the 2013 Vodacom Cup series.

The Namibia Rugby Union will host a Four-Nations Tournament in Windhoek in November with the aim of bringing the pride back into Namibian rugby and to get sponsors and the public back on its side.

The NRU’s CEO Sybrand de Beer said that Spain, Zimbabwe and a South African Barbarians team would compete in the tournament that has provisionally been set for 10 - 17 November.

The president of the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU), Bradley Basson said he was disappointed with MTC’s termination of its rugby sponsorship, but preferred to focus on the positives.

“Well obviously I’m not too happy to receive this news. But in the spirit of MTC’s letter, they have been with rugby for eight years and have been impressed with our structures and said they want to give other companies a chance to get involved in rugby. Their doors are still open and they said they could still help us in future,” he said.

Namibia’s Sevens Rugby team reached the semifinals of the Bowl competition at the Middelburg International Sevens tournament where they lost 34-14 to the Orange Free State.

In total, Namibia played five matches, wining two matches and losing three.

In their group matches Namibia started off with a 33-24 victory against the South African Defence Force, but then suffered two narrow defeats, going down 22-21 to the Northern Rhinos and 24-19 to a combined Leopards/Potchefstroom University team.

The eight-year MTC-NRU partnership came to an end this week after MTC decided not to renew its sponsorship of the NRU.

This comes after the current three-year sponsorship agreement effectively came to an end with the end of the 2012 league season last weekend.

Tim Ekandjo, Chief Human Capital & Corporate Affairs Officer at MTC, said that it was time they needed to give a new sports code the same opportunity that they have afforded the NRU for the past eight years with an investment of over N$28 million.

Namibia’s National Sevens Rugby team has arrived in Middelburg, South Africa to compete in an International Sevens Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

The tournament, which will see several national teams in action, will serve as preparation for the African CAR Sevens Tournament in Morocco the following weekend, where the two top nations will qualify for the 2013 Sevens World Cup.

The Middelburg tournament will also see the current Sevens world champions Wales in action, as well as South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana’s national Sevens teams.

Western Suburbs won the MTC Rugby Premier League title after beating Rehoboth 27-22 in a titanic battle at the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium on Saturday.

Rehoboth held a 19-11 lead at halftime, but Suburbs’ heavier pack started to make its presence felt in the second half as they gradually took control of the match.

Rehoboth outscored Suburbs by three tries to two, but they were punished for their indiscipline as they regularly conceded penalties in the second half which Suburbs’ fullback Shaun Kaizemi turned into points.

A tremendous battle can be expected when Western Suburbs and Rehoboth Rugby Club lock horns in the MTC Rugby Premier League final in Windhoek on Saturday afternoon.

After the final was extended by a week, both teams have recovered from their semifinal victories and are confident of victory and raring to go.

In the semifinals, Suburbs ground out a comprehensive 24-6 victory against the defending champions Reho Falcon, while Rehoboth defended superbly to beat United 22-17.

Grootfontein won the MTC Rugby First Division final after beating Walvis Bay 34-33 in the final in Windhoek on Saturday afternoon.

Grootfontein were always in command, leading 15-5 at halftime and 34-19 with five minutes to go but two late tries by Walvis Bay saw them closing the gap to a point.

Grootfontein held the upper hand in the scrums, often pushing Walvis Bay back for meters at a time, but they came up against some committed tackling by the coastal side.

Both sides tried to play attacking rugby, but poor handling on saw many scoring opportunities lost.

The local rugby season nears its end on Saturday when Grootfontein and Walvis Bay take each other on in the First Division final at 15h00 at the Hage Geingob National Rugby Stadium.

Both teams recorded narrow victories in last weekend’s semifinals, with Walvis Bay just edging United II 21-19, while Grootfontein beat Rosh Pinah 20-13, and Saturday's final should once again be a close affair.