rwc15-Namibia record first win over Russia

Namibia defeated Russia 39-19 on Saturday in Windhoek in the first test of the Windhoek Draught test series. The hosts produced their best performance in over a year with a comprehensive victory over a side ranked three places higher at number 22 on World Rugby’s rankings.

Coming off three consecutive losses at the Nations Cup in Romania last month, Namibia superbly led by Saracen’s loose-forward Jacques Burger put their 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign firmly back on track.

Namibia’s France-based flyhalf Theuns Kotzè opened the scoring with a 4th minute penalty but the visitors then stunned the 3 000-strong home crowd with a well worked try from wing Igor Galinovsky. Veteran flyhalf Yuri Kushnarev converted to make it 7-3 after just 8 minutes of play.

The influence of newly appointed back-line coach Pieter Rossouw was immediately event as the Namibian backs attacked with accuracy and pace. Man of the Match Russell van Wyk however restored Namibia’s lead when he powered his way over after a backline move and with Kotze converting they went 10-7 ahead.

Kotze added a penalty midway through the half, but also missed at least four shots at goal which could have given Namibia a comfortable lead at the break. The Russians on the other hand managed to hold on to possession and work the ball through a couple of phases but several try scoring opportunities were wasted through handling errors. At the sound of the half-time horn they were finally rewarded for their enterprising approach when number 8 Viktor Gresev crashed over in the corner for an unconverted try. The half-time score 13-12 to Namibia.

The second half started with Kotzè missing yet another attempt at goal and Russia twice getting close to scoring from line-out drives only to be stopped by a well organised Namibian defence. The injection of Namibia’s replacements took the game from Russia’s reach.

In the 10th minute Exeter Chiefs fullback Chrysander Botha took a quick throw in to Johan Tromp who tore down the wing before sending scrumhalf Eugene Jantjies away to score a great try. Kotzè converted to take the score to 20-12.

Namibia’s third try and Van Wyk’s second came when Namibia won a line-out and played it wide to the speedster who crashed over in the corner. Trailing by 25-12 and 20 minutes remaining the Russians were starting to the feel the effects of only arriving Thursday evening and the infamous altitude of the Namibian capital.

With twenty minutes remaining Russia launched one attack after the other but just could not break through a resilient Namibian defence. Instead they saw Namibia put the result beyond doubt when replacement centre JC Greyling intercepted and ran half the length of the field to score under the posts. At 32-12 it was hard to see the now beaten Russians prevent a first ever defeat to Namibia but the visitors never gave up and were rewarded in the form of a try from replacement Danila Chegadoav.

The Namibians were not done though and with two minutes remaining Tromp put in a superb chase and gathered an up and under to send Leopards centre Johan Deysel away for Namibia’s fifth try. Kotzè converted to make the final score 39-19 in Namibia’s favour.

Namibian captain, Jacques Burger, playing in his first test on home soil since 2009, was ecstatic with the win. “I am massively proud of the team, a victory in any test match is great, I am just very proud of the team that defended until the end. We stuck to our structures and came away with a win.”

Despite the comprehensive victory and the big margin Burger said his team still had a lot to work on and improve.

“It is a whole new squad and there is certainly room for a lot of improvement but there were a lot of positives out their today and we know we can improve on that,” said the Namibian captain.

New Namibian head coach Phil Davies was equally satisfied with the team’s performance.

“It was a good performance and good first step on the rung of the ladder towards the World Cup but we know there is still a lot of hard work to do,” he said.

The second test between Namibia and Russia in die Windhoek Draught Friendship Series will be played next Saturday at the same venue. – NRU Media Services

Scorers:

Namibia

Tries by Russell van Wyk (2), Eugene Jantjies, JC Greyling Johan Deysel.

Penalty goals: Theuns Kotzè (2)

Conversions:  Theuns Kotzè (3) and Eugene Jantjies.

Russia

Tries by Igor Galinosvky, Viktor Gresev Danila Chegadoav

Conversions: Yuri Kushnarev (2).

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