Namibia: United, Wanderers Lead Women's Rugby

UNITED and Wanderers remained unbeaten after the fourth round of women's rugby matches over the weekend.

At the Unam field, United notched up their fourth successive victory this season with a 26-7 win against Unam, while Wanderers beat Sparta 36-0 on their home ground in Pionierspark for their third victory of the season.

In a third match on Saturday, Rehoboth beat Grootfontein 31-17 on their home field in Rehoboth.

Eight teams are currently competing in the fledgling 10-a-side league, which serves as a precursor to the inaugural 15-a-side national league which is due to kick off in June or July. Kudus from the coast and Okahandja were the two teams not in action on Saturday.

At the Wanderers field, Wanderers romped to a comfortable victory after leading 24-0 at half time.

Their national wing Chriszenthia Bassingthwaighte was the star of the show, scoring three tries, while centre Shandre Jantjies, prop Waemy Haindongo and lock Mandie van Staden scored one try each.

Flyhalf Ida Visagie added two conversions and substitute flyhalf Chere du Plessis one conversion.

At Unam, United outscored Unam by three tries to one to comfortably win their encounter.

Ivonne Kooper, Nicole Philander and Lydia Nanamus each scored a try for United, while Fiola Vliete added four conversions and a penalty.

Unam's points came via a try by Ndapanda Kakundi and a conversion by Mandy Hansen.

In Rehoboth, the home team recorded a convincing victory over Grootfontein after running in five tries, with Whitney Daniels scoring a hat-trick and Pauline Kiewiet and Leventine Boois one try each.

Romandre Nangombe added three conversions.

Namibia's national coach Christelle Kotze said she was excited by the talent on display.

"I'm very impressed by the talent on display and there are definitely a lot of new players that I would like to invite to the national trials which are coming up in preparation for the inaugural Africa Cup," she said.

Namibia lost their first 15s international match 75-5 to Zambia last November, but Kotze said Namibian women's rugby has improved a lot since then.

"One must remember that a lot of the girls only played their first ever 15s match that day, so it's still a learning process and there's a lot of skills and tactics that they still have to learn in the 15s game. Previously they only played Sevens rugby, but now they are already learning new skills with the Tens game, before we upgrade to the 15s league. They will also have to be fitter for that because 15s will be 40 minutes a side, while the 10s is 20 minutes a side," she said.

The inaugural Africa Cup will be played on a regional basis, consisting of five groups of three, with Namibia competing in a southern pool against South Africa and Zimbabwe.

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