NAMIBIA got off to an impressive 55-26 victory against Romania at the World Rugby u20 Trophy in Bucharest, Romania on Tuesday to go to the top of Pool A.
In an excellent display of attacking rugby, Namibia ran in a total of six tries, while fly half Denzo Bruwer had a great day with a personal tally of 28 points.
But it was fullback Chad Plato who engineered the try of the match when after only four minutes, he started a counterattack in his own quarter and evaded several tackles on a weaving run before passing to lock Wynand Breytenbach to score the first try of the match.
Bruwer soon added a second try and after converting both and adding two more penalties, Namibia were suddenly 20-0 ahead after 24 minutes.
Romania opened their account with a try by Andrei Pasalan but two more penalties by Bruwer put Namibia 26-5 ahead, before a converted try by Romanian prop Dragos Ser made the halftime score 26-12.
Namibia wing Rudi Pretorius went over for a try shortly after the restart and when Bruwer added another penalty Namibia were well ahead at 34-12.
Namibian lock Adriaan Ludick was, however, sin-binned for illegal play and Romania reduced the deficit with two tries in ten minutes.
Prop Iulian Hartig was the first to score, barging over from close range, and when replacement scrum-half Andrei Homiuc darted over, Romania were right back in the game with the score at 34-26.
Namibia, however, finished stronger and further tries by Donaville Lebereki, Elmarco Beukes and Gerbus van Wyk completed a commanding victory.
The result put Namibia at the top of Pool A on five points, just ahead of Samoa, who beat Hong Kong 41-20, on points difference.
In Pool B, Fiji went to the top of the log with a 55-34 victory against Uruguay, while a late rally by Portugal gave them a 31-29 victory against Canda, after trailing 26-11 at halftime.
The tournament continues on Saturday when Namibia take on Hong Kong and Samoa play Romania in Pool A, while Canada play Uruguay and Fiji meet Portugal in Pool B.
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