NAMIBIA gave a brilliant display to overwhelm the Ivory Coast 54-14 at the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium on Saturday afternoon and take a step closer to qualifying for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
The match was spoiled by intermittent fighting and the referee had his hands full shortly after the kick-off when fighting broke out among the forwards. The referee finally managed to restore order and sent the Ivory Coast’s eighthman Bakary Meite and Namibian prop Marius Visser off for ten minutes. The pent-up aggression remained throughout the match and Bakari was eventually red-carded when he head-butted Namibian replacement scrumhalf Eugene Jantjies on 60m.Five minutes later it was Namibian replacement prop Johnny Redelinghuis who was sent off after he hit Ivory Coast hooker Olivier Diomande.In between the fighting Namibia produced some great attacking rugby with their inspirational forwards tackling and driving relentlessly while their quicksilver backline had the visitors’ defence at full stretch.Namibian fullback Chrysander Botha had a great game, scoring two tries, three penalties and five conversions for a personal haul of 29 points, but it was Namibia’s forwards who laid the foundation with their constant pressure and dominance of the set pieces.Here the loose trio of Tinus du Plessis, Jacques Burger and Jacques Nieuwenhuis was outstanding, with their terrier-like tackling and relentless drives, while PJ van Lill, who came on in the second half, also had a storming game.Locks Wacca Kazombiaze and Nico Esterhuizen won a surfeit of possession in the lineouts, while Namibia also dominated the scrums, pushing the visitors back at will and disrupting their possession.Among the backs, Namibia lost flyhalf Jacky Bock early through an injury, but this did not disrupt their play as replacement flyhalf Emile Wessels kept Namibia’s backline moving forward with a quick service.Centre David Philander had a great game, breaking the line on several occasions, while fullback Botha was outstanding, joining the backline at pace and scoring two tries in the process. With the emphatic victory Namibia went through 67-27 on aggregate after drawing the first leg match 13-all in Abidjan, and they will now meet the aggregate winner between Tunisia and Uganda in the final of the African qualifiers in November. – www.namibiasport.com.na
