Namibia storms to Plate victory

NAMIBIA stormed to a pulsating 24-14 victory over Samoa to take the Plate Final during the Trustco Namibia Sevens Rugby Tournament, while South Africa emerged as the overall winners of the inaugural event at the Hage Geingob Stadium on Saturday.

South Africa hammered Zimbabwe 61-14 in the main final match to give them the title, while Tunisia beat Uganda 26-21 to scoop the Bowl Final.Namibia had Attie du Plessis to thank for his pace and vision as he dotted down for a hat-trick of tries in the game, with his last try the most dramatic after he opened the taps to the try-line as he beat a host of Samoan defenders.The home side also showed commitment in their tackles, but at times it led to some decisions going against them, while Samoa were more cautious apart from one high tackle which was ignored by the referee.The Namibian team, coached by Christo Alexander, were urged to victory by supportive home spectators, who in the final minutes thought it was all over before du Plessis made the Samoans pay for their inconsistent defence.The Namibian team started off on a high note in the opening minutes for their first try through du Plessis who broke through from a quick pass from Brandon Walters.The victory in the final and the run of the Namibians during the two-day tournament showed the character and the fighting spirit to be rated among the top sevens rugby playing nations on the continent.Brian Henckert scored the other Namibian try before the break, but Du Plessis followed up again with two fantastic tries in the second half after the Samoans led at the break.Trustco Namibia managing director Quinton van Rooyen was excited about the successful hosting of the tournament.He said the rugby overall was exciting and described the performance of the Namibian team as phenomenal.Namibia Rugby Union chief executive officer Sakkie Mouton was also happy with the outcome of the event and could also not hide his joy over the performance of the local players.BOKS TOO STRONG Meanwhile, the South had little sweat to break as they completely outplayed a poor Zimbabwean outfit.For South Africa, captain Mzwandile Stick, Paul Delport, Chase Minaar, Ryno Benjamin, Cecil Afrika and Reg Muller all scored to secure the win.The Springboks were in commanding form from the first whistle and overpowered the Zimbabweans with their clever runs into space, quick hands as they offloaded the balls, while they had plenty of gas in their tanks to race to the try-line on numerous occasions.Earlier, South Africa flung favourites Fiji out of the tournament in the semi-finals with a 28-0 victory which rather looked too easy for the Boks against a team which is highly rated in the discipline.Zimbabwe managed to secure the final spot after they beat Argentina 19-14 in their match in which they displayed some fine handling skills and speed overall. Tunisia did not find the going too tough against Uganda as they managed to squeeze through to their Bowl victory. corry@namibian.com.na