Clubs rekindle competition for Gold Cup
Club rugby
Eight weeks after the conclusion of the Namibia Rugby Union’s premier league, it is finally back to the grindstone for the club teams involved in the newly conceptualised NRU Gold Cup and Silver Cup.
Such a long break in mid-season may not have made it easy for coaching teams to inspire the motivation and urgency on the training fields in the lead-up to this coming weekend’s clashes, but the competitive spirit should kick in again soon enough.
FNB Kudus became NRU premier league champions for the first time in their history when they beat FNB Wanderers in the final on 7 June – which was eight weeks ago.
For beaten semi-finalists Trustco United and FNB Grootfontein, the first half of their 2025 rugby season ended one week earlier, while the break extends to ten weeks for FNB Unam and the rest of the clubs that failed to make the top-four.
In the meantime, the national team toured to Uganda for the Rugby Africa Cup, where they beat Senegal and Algeria, but lost in the final to Zimbabwe, as the Sables qualified directly to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Namibia kept their hopes alive of qualifying for the world event through the repechage tournament in November in Dubai.
With the latter challenge approaching, against motivated teams from Belgium and likely Canada and Brazil, the importance of competitive club rugby in Namibia becomes paramount.
The newly conceived Gold Cup will be a single-round competition between the top-six clubs in the premier league, leading up the final on 13 September. The top six were Kudus, Wanderers, United, Grootfontein, Unam and FNB Rehoboth.
On Saturday, Grootfontein’s visit to the Unam Stadium will be the first-team match broadcast live on NTV and https://oneuptwo.com/
Rehoboth’s Red Bulls will kick off their campaign against Wanderers in Pionierspark, while United will be the first travellers to face Kudus after their big championship celebrations.
No team lists were made available yet at the time of going to print.
• Full fixture list on page 2 today.
Such a long break in mid-season may not have made it easy for coaching teams to inspire the motivation and urgency on the training fields in the lead-up to this coming weekend’s clashes, but the competitive spirit should kick in again soon enough.
FNB Kudus became NRU premier league champions for the first time in their history when they beat FNB Wanderers in the final on 7 June – which was eight weeks ago.
For beaten semi-finalists Trustco United and FNB Grootfontein, the first half of their 2025 rugby season ended one week earlier, while the break extends to ten weeks for FNB Unam and the rest of the clubs that failed to make the top-four.
In the meantime, the national team toured to Uganda for the Rugby Africa Cup, where they beat Senegal and Algeria, but lost in the final to Zimbabwe, as the Sables qualified directly to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Namibia kept their hopes alive of qualifying for the world event through the repechage tournament in November in Dubai.
With the latter challenge approaching, against motivated teams from Belgium and likely Canada and Brazil, the importance of competitive club rugby in Namibia becomes paramount.
The newly conceived Gold Cup will be a single-round competition between the top-six clubs in the premier league, leading up the final on 13 September. The top six were Kudus, Wanderers, United, Grootfontein, Unam and FNB Rehoboth.
On Saturday, Grootfontein’s visit to the Unam Stadium will be the first-team match broadcast live on NTV and https://oneuptwo.com/
Rehoboth’s Red Bulls will kick off their campaign against Wanderers in Pionierspark, while United will be the first travellers to face Kudus after their big championship celebrations.
No team lists were made available yet at the time of going to print.
• Full fixture list on page 2 today.
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