Kudus withstand Grootfontein fightback
FNB Kudus Rugby Club secured a hard-fought 48-31 victory over FNB Grootfontein Rugby Club in a Namibia Rugby Premier League encounter at Jan Wilken Stadium on Saturday.
Kudus got off to a flying start, with scrumhalf Ray-Shawn Shoombe scoring within the opening two minutes. Aurelio Plato converted to give the home side an early 7-0 lead.
The match then took a fiery turn, with both teams reduced to 14 players after Kudus’ Ja-Tamson van der Berg and Grootfontein’s Jakanjomoka BB Ortner were shown red cards following a fist fight on the field.
Grootfontein responded with a try through scrumhalf Johannes du Plessis but failed to convert, before Lloyd Jacobs crossed for Kudus in the 16th minute. With a missed conversion, the score stood at 12- 5 in favour of the home team.
Kudus produced one of the highlights of the first half with a brilliant attacking move that started deep inside their own territory and ended with centre Tonderai Ndudzo scoring in the corner. Plato converted to extend the lead to 19-5.
Grootfontein refused to surrender and scored following a scrum close to the Kudus try line, with team captain and hooker Lodewikus Jacobs crossing for the try. The conversion was missed.
Kudus’ Shoombe then added another try, with Plato converting to move the hosts 26-10 ahead.
Grootfontein finished the half strongly, with du Plessis scoring his second try of the match. Busch converted to reduce the deficit to 26-17 at half-time.
Kudus came out strongly after the break, using their collective physical strength to break through the Grootfontein defence, with hooker Roberto Lendley scoring a try. Plato added the conversion to put the hosts 33-17 ahead.
Grootfontein, however, launched a determined comeback, capitalising on an opportunity close to the Kudus posts to score through scrumhalf Johannes du Plessis for his third try of the match. Centre Franklin Busch converted to make it 33-24.
The visitors continued their fight and soon added another converted try, with right wing Alfred Vercuil scoring and Busch converting to cut the deficit to 33-31.
Kudus responded with a long-range attacking run from around the 50-metre line by replacement AJ Kerns, resulting in another try. The conversion was missed, leaving the score at 38-31.
With the match entering its decisive stages, Kudus refused to let the visitors’ comeback derail them. Replacement Roche Jansen van Vuuren scored in the left corner, but the conversion was missed, extending the hosts’ advantage to 43-31.
Sealing the victory, replacement Clayton Camm added the final try for the home side. The conversion was missed, setting the final score at 48-31.
Kudus captain Adriaan Ludick said it had been a tough game and that the team had shown it was competitive in the league.
“I believe we deserve this win. There was a moment we gave Grootfontein the gap to come back, but we came back well to secure the victory at the end of the day. I am really proud of the boys. We worked hard.”
Grootfontein captain Lodewikus Jacobs said his team stuck to its guns until the final whistle.
“We had a few injuries during the game, which brought down our momentum. We are not going to lie down. We are waiting for them in the semi-finals. Next up, we have United on our home ground.”
