WINDHOEK: The University of Namibia (UNAM) rugby club put up an impressive second-half performance to overcome league-defending champions Trustco United 31-17 in their second fixture of the Namibia Rugby Premier League (NRPL).

The 2024 NRPL season kicked off a fortnight ago with UNAM and United winning their league openers.

At the UNAM Stadium on Saturday, Trustco United dominated the first 40 minutes of the match but missed a penalty and several chances to score a try earlier on in the match.

With numerous missed opportunities the visitors found their foot and capitalized on UNAM’s handling errors, winning possession, and scoring their first try but missed the conversion and failed to increase their lead to seven points.

The home team UNAM had a well-organised defence which did its best to keep United at bay but within minutes running down, United once again managed to put more points on the scoreboard with their second try of the match after a hard-fought battle with the UNAM defence.

United once again
failed to convert from their try, ending the first half with a 10-0 scoreline in their favour.

In the second half, it was all about the home team UNAM who managed to run in four tries while dominating play as United was a shadow of their first-half performance.

In the second half, UNAM started strong and scored their first try just six minutes in, outplaying the United defence.

United quickly responded with a try of their own, but UNAM’s players showed a revived fighting spirit and managed to score three more tries along with a penalty as they used all mistakes from their opponents to pile up points on the scoreboard.

Raschano van Rooi was in great form, converting all UNAM’s tries and scoring a penalty, Alcino Izaacz scored two tries, while Shareave Titus and Berry Gande each scored one try.

Trustco United only managed to score three tries through Jandre Esterhuyzen, Hanreco van Zly, and Callie Swanepoel, with Lorenzo Louis converting only one of them.

In other Premier League matches played on Saturday
, Grootfontein collected points away from home with a 39-13 win against Dolphins in Swakopmund. Meanwhile, Wanderers overcame stiff competition from Kudus with a 35-25 win in Windhoek, and Reho Falcons defeated their visiting opponents, Western Suburbs, 23-17 in Rehoboth.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency