Sixth title in a row for Gasbottels

Touch rugby
Andrew Poolman
  • 4 Months Ago - 2023-12-28 00:00:00
The Gasbottels team took the Hansa Draught Henties Bay touch rugby tournament title for the sixth time in a row on Tuesday, narrowly clinching the win against Cobras in an extra-time shoot-out.
The annual event, organised by Sparta Rugby Club, was once again a favourite among holiday visitors to the coastal town. A total of twelve teams entered the competition with squads of eight players each, contesting in a pool phase before the semi-final round.
With five players per team on the playing “field” on the Henties Bay beach sand, defence usually dominated due to the limited space. The cup final ended 0-0 during regular time and sudden-death extra time was introduced during which the playing teams would be reduced every 60 seconds by one player each, until only one player per side remains.
The Gasbottels’ Aston Mukwiilongo, who plays wing for FNB Kudus, emerged as the hero with his decisive try in extra time with only hmself and Benito Bezuidenhout of Cobras remaining.
The Gasbottels team members were Paolo Andrews, Denver Beukes, Coburn Claasen, Elton de Smit, Suramie Kambombo, Leighton Kearns, Aston Mukwiilongo and Keanu Weber, who won the N$10 000 prize money sponsored by Hansa Draught.
Lions Pack won the bronze final by a run-away 6-0 margin against Spar Henties Bay, with the teams walking away with N$5 000 and N$2 500 respectively.