Leopards blow Namibia away

Van Rooyen contributed 27 points to his side's total in yet another match where defence meant little. A total of 13 tries was scored in the game as the Leopards dotted down on eight occasions while Namibia managed to score five tries of their own.

The victory ensured that the Leopards remained unbeaten after picking up their second victory while Namibia suffered their first defeat of the competition.

The Leopards employed a direct attacking game in the opening minutes and breached Namibia's defence early on to open the scoring. The Leopards took the ball through a few phases, broke a few tackles and the final pass found Michiel Janse van Rensburg, who cantered over to score under the posts.

Hanru van Rooyen added the conversion to hand the Leopards a 7-0 lead after two minutes.

Namibia's defence was once again left in tatters a few minutes later as the Leopards spread the ball and a straight line of running by fullback Bertru Jones saw him burst through to dot down under the posts. Van Rooyen popped over the conversion to extend their lead to 14-0 after five minutes.

The match fizzled out a bit from that point as neither side was able to hold onto possession for long enough to launch a meaningful attack. It would be Namibia who got the next points though as, from a penalty inside the Leopards' 22, Gerswin Mouton goaled to get his side on the board to trail 3-14 after 18 minutes.

Namibia continued to probe for a hole in the Leopards defence and while the Leopards did well to keep them at bay, the defence was breached in the 26th minute. Namibia kept it tight before spreading it wide to Mouton, who goose-stepped his way past the last defender to score in the corner.

He missed the conversion though but the try saw them trail 8-14.

Namibia continued to apply pressure on the Leopards' defence and camped inside their 22. A turnover led to van Rooyen breaking out from inside his 22. He set off on a run and exchanged quite a few passes with Lohann Jahns, taking his side all the way into Namibia's 22, before Van Rooyen finished it off to dot down under the uprights.

He popped over the conversion to take a 21-8 lead after 32 minutes.

The Leopards went into the break with a 20-point lead as Jones showed a clean pair of heels to race away and grab his second try of the game. Van Rooyen popped over the conversion to take a 288 lead at the break.

The Leopards came out firing in the second half and got into Namibia's 22 with ease. With little options available Van Rooyen went for the drop goal and watched it fly over to extend his side's lead to 31-8 after 37 minutes.

The Leopards were in an unforgiving mood as they once again tore Namibia's defence to pieces. This time Mitchell van der Merwe went on a powerful run that got his side into Namibia's 22. Anelka Barends was on hand to receive the final pass and score. van Rooyen was once again on target with the conversion to take a 38-8 lead in the 43rd minute.

Namibia's woes were compounded a few minutes later when another Leopards attack ended with a try. This time Andries Fouche was on hand to pick up the final offload and canter over the try line. Van Rooyen maintained his 100 percent kicking record to stretch the lead to 45-8 after 48 minutes.

Namibia did not give up though and despite being under pressure, they managed to go on the attack. They showed good continuity to keep the ball alive to allow Roaldo Rittman to power his way over from close range. The conversion was missed as they trailed 13-45 after 52 minutes.

That joy was short-lived though as the Leopards intercepted a pass, handed it to Van Rooyen, who raced away to dot down in the corner. His conversion attempt hit the upright but the lead was stretched to 50-13 after 54 minutes.

Namibia never gave up though and were once again on the attack and soon found themselves inside the Leopards' 22. They kept the ball alive before finding Gilad Plaatjies with the final pass and the loose forward went over unopposed. The conversion was once again missed as they trailed 18-50 after 58 minutes.

The Leopards were next on the board as Ruwald van der Merwe went over for his side's eighth try of the game. Van Rooyen converted to take a 57-18 lead. However, Namibia hit back with a five-pointer of their own as hooker Louw Steenkamp went on a storming run from outside the Leopards' 22.

Once again the conversion was missed as Namibia trailed 23-57 after 62 minutes.

Namibia had their tails up now and scored their fifth try in the 65th minute. They went hard at the Leopards defence and when they won a penalty inside their opponents' 22, scrumhalf Jaques Theron took a quick tap and sniped over the line. The conversion was popped over by Delron Brandt to reduce the deficit to 30-57.

Scorers:

For Namibia:

Tries: Gerswin Mouton, Roaldo Rittman, Gilad Plaatjies, Louw Steenkamp, Jaques Theron

Con: Delron Brandt

Pen: Gerswin Mouton

For Leopards:

Tries: Michiel Janse van Rensburg, Bertru Jones 2, Hanru van Rooyen 2, Anelka Barends, Andries Fouche, Ruwald van der Merwe

Cons: Hanru van Rooyen 7

DG: Hanru van Rooyen

Teams: 

Namibia: 15 Delron Brandt (Windhoek), 14 Darryl Wellman (Wilvisbay High), 13 Gerswin Mouton (Windhoek Afrikaans), 12 Justin Muir (Windhoek), 11 Elmarco Beukes (Windhoek), 10 Denzo Bruwer (Windhoek Gym), 9 Jaques Theron (WHK High School), 8 Franco Opperman (WHK Gim), 7 Roaldo Rittman (Windhoek Gim), 6 Gilad Plaatjies (Walvis Private), 5 Pieter-Daniel Kok (Tsumeb Gym), 4 Frans Oosthuizen (Windhoek Afrikaanse), 3 Gerhard Opperman (WHK Gim), 2 Louw Steenkamp (Windhoek Gym), 1 Frederick Swanepool (Windhoek). 16 JC Rossouw (Windhoek), 17 Wander Augustyn (Windhoek), 18 Claus Schmidt (Windhoek Gym), 19 Brandon Nortje (Windhoek), 20 Ignacio Feris (Walvis Private School), 21 Johandre Potgieter (Tsumeb Gym), 22 Le Roux Booysen (Elnatan Private), 23 Siegfried Potgieter (Windhoek Gym).

Leopards: 15 Bertru Jones (Lichtenburg), 14 Pitso Mosia (Potchefstroom Technical High School), 13 Mitchell van der Merwe (Potchefstroom Gimnasium), 12 Lohann Jahns (Lichtenburg), 11 Kamohelo Majola (Potchefstroom Boys High), 10 Hanru van Rooyen (Potchefstroom Volkskool), 9 Showan Maurice Drude (Lichtenburg), 8 Ruwald van der Merwe (Rustenburg), 7 Andries Fouche (Rustenburg), 6 Zimasa Nokama (Vaal Reefs), 5 George van der Westhuizen (Potchefstroom Gimnasium), 4 Ntokozo Gumedze (Potchefstroom Technical High School), 3 Arno Gustafson (Potchefstroom Gimnasium), 2 Dirk-Hendrik Kotze (Klerksdorp), 1 Simbonile Mnyazana (Vaal Reefs), 16 Gustav van Staden (Rustenburg), 17 Ruben du Plessis (Rustenburg), 18 Graivian Smith (Lichtenburg), 19 Michiel Janse van Rensburg (Vryburg), 20 Anelka Barends (Potchefstroom Gimnasium), 21 Vihan Muller (Lichtenburg), 22 Cellen Benjamin (Klerksdorp), 23 Frank-Lee Jackson (Potchefstroom Gimnasium).

Referee: Johre Botha 

Assistant referees: Oregopotse Rametsi, Archie Sehlako