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Windhoek - The Valke won only their second game in this year’s Vodacom Cup competition by beating Namibia's Welwitschias 45-7 at the Hage Geingob stadium on Friday evening, the supersport.com website reports.
With both sides finding themselves near the bottom of the log in the Northern Section, the game was one that was played for pride and one where the resulting bonus points were of academic importance.
The Valke fell to the Pumas last weekend in the Mbombela stadium in Nelspruit, while the hosts enjoyed a bye. The much needed rest they got did however not reflect in their performance against the side from Brakpan.
The Valke completely dominated the first half and ran in no less than six tries in the first half in pretty much a one sided affair. As was the case a couple of weeks ago, Valke scrumhalf Anrich Richter was the pick of the litter, running in two tries in the first 40 minutes. Valke winger Riaan Arends echoed that performance by also dotting down twice before the halftime whistle.
Flanker Ernst Ladendorf got the visitors on the board as early as the fourth minute with his try, which full back Juan Kotze converted with ease. What followed was two tries from Richter in the space of five minutes, one in the 12th and the other in the 15th minute. Arends scored his first just three minutes later, with centre Willie Odendaal also rounding off before Arends capped a dominating performance in the first half with his second.
Kotze converted all but one of those, giving the Valke a solid halftime lead of 40-0 and leaving the hosts to ponder the second 40 minutes. But where the first half delivered some exceptional running rugby from the Valke, the second stanza was pretty much a lacklustre affair.
A host of replacements by the Valke early on where to be expected given their solid lead, while the Welwitschias also followed that route in a desperate attempt to salvage the game. Centre Johan Tromp’s try in the 41st minute gave the hosts a faint glimmer of hope, but they never succeeded in causing an upset. The Valke struggled with their rhythm in the second half as a result of all the replacements, but eighth man Friddle de Wet still scored a try in the 64th minute to put the end result beyond doubt.
Scorers:
Valke 45 (40): Tries: Ernst Ladendorf, Anrich Richter (2), Riaan Arends (2), Willie Odendaal, Friddle de Wet. Conversions: Juan Kotze (5)
Welwitschias 7 (0): Try: Johan Tromp. Conversion: Michael Kaizemi
