Shortage of refs lead to dead rubber weekend
Club rugby
A forfeiture has lead to the top-four teams in the league suddenly being confirmed one week ahead of the semi-finals.
In a dramatic development yesterday, the management of FNB Kudus Rugby Club has confirmed that their teams will not be travelling to play FNB Rehoboth this Saturday, but rather forfeit the league points.
This decision practically rules out any chance FNB Western Suburbs (fifth) or FNB Unam (sixth) still had of qualifying for the semi-final, if results had gone their way.
Going into the last weekend of league matches, six of the eight teams would still have had a chance of finishing in the top four for the semi-finals of the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) premier league.
Log leaders FNB Wanderers will conclude their regular season with a theoretically “easier” match against bottom team FNB Reho Falcon, with already a five-point cushion putting Wanderers in a strong position to finish top-of-the-log for the second year in a row.
Wanderers, second-placed Kudus and third-placed Trustco United have ensured their qualification for the semi-final round and will finish as the top three.
However, FNB Rehoboth (fourth), FNB Western Suburbs (fifth) and even FNB Unam (sixth) would have been in the more anxious situation – having to win their respective matches if they want to survive the cut.
Kudus’ forfeiture to Rehoboth means that United versus Suburbs will now be a dead rubber, while Grootfontein’s last visit to Unam Stadium will also not be enough for the students to possibly slip into the top four.
Kudus’ decision was prompted by the NRU reaching the conclusion – in collaboration with the clubs – that the top two finishers will no longer have the right to host home semi-finals, but that all premier league, reserve league and women’s league semi-finals will be hosted at the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek on 19 August.
The shortage of qualified referees to handle semi-finals at different towns or venues was presented as a main factor in the decision to centralise the semi-final round.
In its statement yesterday, Kudus said its decision to forfeit the match in Rehoboth was “purely based on the financial implication two consecutive away travelling weekends would have on its coffers. We never shy away from any challenge, but we had to take a decision that will benefit the club moving forward.”
This decision practically rules out any chance FNB Western Suburbs (fifth) or FNB Unam (sixth) still had of qualifying for the semi-final, if results had gone their way.
Going into the last weekend of league matches, six of the eight teams would still have had a chance of finishing in the top four for the semi-finals of the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) premier league.
Log leaders FNB Wanderers will conclude their regular season with a theoretically “easier” match against bottom team FNB Reho Falcon, with already a five-point cushion putting Wanderers in a strong position to finish top-of-the-log for the second year in a row.
Wanderers, second-placed Kudus and third-placed Trustco United have ensured their qualification for the semi-final round and will finish as the top three.
However, FNB Rehoboth (fourth), FNB Western Suburbs (fifth) and even FNB Unam (sixth) would have been in the more anxious situation – having to win their respective matches if they want to survive the cut.
Kudus’ forfeiture to Rehoboth means that United versus Suburbs will now be a dead rubber, while Grootfontein’s last visit to Unam Stadium will also not be enough for the students to possibly slip into the top four.
Kudus’ decision was prompted by the NRU reaching the conclusion – in collaboration with the clubs – that the top two finishers will no longer have the right to host home semi-finals, but that all premier league, reserve league and women’s league semi-finals will be hosted at the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek on 19 August.
The shortage of qualified referees to handle semi-finals at different towns or venues was presented as a main factor in the decision to centralise the semi-final round.
In its statement yesterday, Kudus said its decision to forfeit the match in Rehoboth was “purely based on the financial implication two consecutive away travelling weekends would have on its coffers. We never shy away from any challenge, but we had to take a decision that will benefit the club moving forward.”
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