Leemisa Thuseho
MASERU Warriors marked their return to action in style by beating the defending Rugby National League champions LDF 15-5 in Roma on Saturday.
The win saw Maseru Warriors sitting at the top of the log with 27 points while National University of Lesotho (NUL) outfit Rovers are second with 18 points.
Liqhomane, as LDF is affectionately known, is third with 16 points and it seems its chances of defending its title are getting slimmer.
Maseru Warriors embarked onto the league’s second round highly motivated after winning the first round and the team’s coach Morapeli Motaug said the Saturday win increased their chance towards winning the second round.
While Liqhomane are no pushovers, he is happy that his boys have completed a double over the army side this season.
“I am happy we won our first game back from the long Covid-19 break,” Motaung said.
“We were smart enough to spot LDF’s weaknesses when we beat them in the first round and we also capitalised on that this time around. The Saturday game was not enjoyable because of the rains which made the ground slippery. The game was full of injuries.
“However, I am satisfied with our performance… our tactical discipline was superb.
“We only started training two weeks ago and some of the players are not back due to different reasons. We were also without the service of four of our players who are stuck in South Africa due to Covid-19.”
For his part, LDF player coach Mokuena Mokuena conceded that his side’s chances to defend its title are now very slim.
“We are now fighting for the second position… but we hope are hoping to be back in full force in the next round,” Mokuena said.
Given the long break on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mokuena believes the loss to Maseru Warriors was a learning experience and believes that they will improve in coming matches.
This Saturday, Maseru Warriors take on Roma Kings while Giants face Liqhomane. NUL Spears will be in action against Mabote Beavers.
Other league results from last Saturday fixtures; Mabote Beavers 28-0 Giants and NUL Spears 0-28 Roma Kings.
