NAMIBIA’s rugby fifteen, the Welwitschias, delivered one of their best performances despite losing 13-17 to Canada at Eirias Parc, Colwyn Bay in northern Wales on Friday evening. It was Namibia’s first of their Windhoek Draught Northern Hemisphere 2015 World Cup preparatory tour.
Led by Saracens loose forward Jacques Burger, the Namibians started very well but let themselves down by conceding early penalties. Canada took the lead as early as the 6th minute through scrum half Gordon McRorie after the Namibians were judged off-side by South African referee Stuart Berry.
Three minutes later the Namibians suffered a major setback when their England based fullback Chrysander Botha was stretchered off and taken to hospital with a broken left leg. After a delay of almost 9 minutes during which Botha received treatment, Namibia conceded a second penalty, and this time it was loose forward Rohan Kitshoff who was penalised for not releasing the ball. McRorie stepped up and made it 6-0 to Canada.
It took Namibia 25 minutes to get on board when fly half Theuns Kotze slotted a 25-metre penalty after Canada was caught slowing down the ball. Ten minutes before the break Canada extended their lead after Namibia was again guilty of a transgression at the breakdown.
McRorie was on target to make it 9-3. Kotzé responded immediately with his second penalty of the evening. With the score at 9-6 the match was evenly poised but just before half time the momentum swung in the Canadians’ favour when Berry gave Kitshoff a yellow card for a dangerous tackle. The Namibians did well to hang on despite their numerical disadvantage and the sides changed ends with Canada leading 9-6.
Canada started well and with Namibia still a player short extended their lead to 12-6 through a fourth penalty from McRorie just minutes into the second half. Kotzé then missed an easy chance to close the gap to three points again.
It was a costly mistake as Canada opened up an 11-point lead after loose forward Nanyak Dala went over in the corner for his side’s only try of the match. The remaining 25 minutes of the second half were dominated by the Namibians who held the upper hand in the set phases.
Brive’s Tjiuee Uanive, only in his second test match, was superb in the lineouts while the front row of veteran Johnnie Redelinghuys, newcomer Torsten van Jaarsveld and tight head André Schlechter had the ascendency in the scrums. Namibia won the physical battle and grew in confidence as the match entered its final quarter.
While superb in defence Namibia battled to breach the Canadian defence and it was only in the last ten minutes that the North American side started looking vulnerable. With five minutes remaining captain Jacques Burger scored after a well-executed lineout drive. Kotzé slotted the conversion, which gave Namibia a chance of pulling off a win against a side ranked higher on the IRB rankings.
A last minute attack almost resulted in what would have been a match winning try but the final pass went astray. The final score 17-13. Namibia’s next match is Friday in Toulon against the French Barbarians.
Namibia vs Canada scorers
Canada 17 (9) – Try: Nanyak Dala, Penalties: Gordon McRorie (4)
Namibia 13 (6)- Try: Jacques Burger, Conversion: Theuns Kotzé, Penalties: Kotzé (2)