• Sport

Blue Bulls edge brave Welwitschias in 97-point thriller

• 1 Day Ago

The Vodacom Blue Bulls survived a spirited second-half fightback from the Welwitschias Invitational XV to claim a dramatic 50-47 victory in an entertaining international rugby friendly at the Hage Geingob Stadium on Saturday.

In a match that kept supporters on the edge of their seats until the final whistle, the visitors required a late solo effort from scrum-half Brooklyn Newman to deny the Welwitschias what would have been a famous victory.

The home side made the brighter start, with fly-half Wiks Tromp opening the scoring after calmly slotting over a penalty to give the Welwitschias an early 3-0 lead. The Blue Bulls responded through flanker Abongile Nonkontwana, who crossed for the visitors' opening try before the contest developed into an end-to-end affair.

The Welwitschias hit back through centre Danco Burger, who powered over for the hosts' opening try, with Tromp adding the conversion. Hooker Obert Nortjé also crossed as Namibia stayed within touching distance, but the Blue Bulls continued to test the home defence and JJ Motlhodi's try helped the visitors take a narrow 24-20 lead into the break.

The second half delivered even more excitement. Forward Johan Luttig muscled over from close range before the Welwitschias' replacements changed the complexion of the game. Jaylon Carew and Manfred "The Bullet" Garoeb combined superbly, with Carew producing the final pass for Garoeb to sprint over, while another replacement, Elzandro van Wyk, also crossed after an energetic display.

Just when the Welwitschias looked capable of completing a remarkable comeback, Newman delivered the decisive moment. Breaking from the base of a scrum, the Blue Bulls scrum-half spotted space around the fringe before showing blistering pace to score the match-winning try in the closing stages.

Despite the narrow defeat, the Welwitschias once again demonstrated their growing quality following last week's emphatic 71-12 victory over Zambia. Although Namibia missed out on qualification for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, the performance against the Blue Bulls highlighted the promise of a new generation as the national side embarks on a rebuilding phase.

Carew, who followed up his memorable hat-trick against Zambia with another impressive performance, said wearing the Welwitschias jersey remained a special honour.

"It's a dream come true for me. I'm grateful for the opportunity to represent the country," he said.

He also credited the understanding among the younger players for their impact on the match. "We get along really well with the boys, so it's easy to anticipate where to be and we understand each other."

Garoeb, who also crossed off the bench against Zambia a week earlier, praised the team's resilience. "I think we showed resilience today. I'm happy to get on the scoresheet. It was a tough game and we can only get better from here," he said.

Blue Bulls captain Nama Xaba admitted his side had been pushed to the limit by the Welwitschias. "The Welwitschias showed up today and almost put us to the sword. They won all the small decisions and that played to their advantage. In the second half they made changes and brought on some youngsters with X-factor on the field. It was a good learning curve for us and we will work on it before the Currie Cup," he said.

NRU chief executive officer John Heynes believes the current group is laying the foundation for the future. "Rome wasn't built in a day. The future looks bright and this is the beginning of our rebuild," he said.

Although the result went the Blue Bulls' way, the emergence of youngsters such as Carew, Garoeb and Van Wyk, coupled with the Welwitschias' fearless display against quality opposition, provided further encouragement that Namibian rugby's rebuilding process is heading in the right direction.