Maqonda Ndlovu
The Namibia senior rugby team concluded their 2023 South American excursion with a morale-boosting 28-26 victory over Chile at the Estadio German Becker on Saturday evening.
This was the first-ever match between the countries, who are bound for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
The match, which was broadcast live on local television, saw Chile settle down first, taking a 14-7 lead after the first 18 minutes through converted tries by fly-half Rodrigo Fernández and full-back Iñaki Ayarza.
Namibia captain Johan Deysel sliced through the midfield defence to score a try, which Tiaan Swanepoel converted for a 14-7 scoreline in the 20th minute.
Chile went 19-7 up when captain Martín Sigren scored a try just before halftime.
In the second half, Chile extended their lead when Domingo Saavedra touched down for a converted try to make it 26-7 in the 57th minute.
Namibia mounted a spirited comeback via a try by fullback Divan Rossouw, following a driving maul, and Swanepoel converted to make it 26-14 in the 59th minute.
Lock Louis van der Westhuizen scored Namibia’s third try in the 64th minute, and Swanepoel made no mistake to make it a five-point match as the scoreboard read 26-21 in the 64th minute.
With 10 minutes left, Namibia’s Adriaan Ludick scored the winning try of the match as Namibia took the lead, 28-26.
Chile lost replacement centre José Ignacio Larenas to a yellow card, and Namibia held on for a win.
It was the Welwitschias first win of the Nations Cup tour after they lost 18-28 to Uruguay and 27-34 to Argentina XV.
The Namibians will play their last preparatory match against the Blue Bulls at the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek on 26 August before leaving to France for the World Cup.
They will play Italy on 9 September, New Zealand on 15 September, France on 21 September before concluding the group stages against Uruguay on 27 September.