Sloppy Namibia go down to Samoa

NAMIBIA suffered their first defeat at the u20 World Rugby Trophy in Romania when they went down 41-28 to Samoa on Wednesday.

Namibia were well in the game when they took a 18-15 halftime lead and increased that to 21-15 early in the second half, but a combination of poor defending and indiscipline allowed Samoa to get back on top.

Samoa eventually ran in six tries, through Timothy Lilomaiava, Alexander Tavita, Sione Young Yen, Austin Faamausili, Paulo Fuiono and Shammah-Anthony Solomona, while fly half Simon Peter Toleafoa added 11 points with the boot.

Namibia scored three tries through hooker Jan Basson, full back Chad Plato and flanker Gerbus van Wyk, while fly half Denzo Bruwer added three penalties and a conversion, and replacement fly half Hannes van Zyl another conversion.

Samoa took an early lead when hooker Lilomaiava went over in the right hand corner after crashing through some poor tackles.

Namibia, however, replied in great fashion when they launched a 30 metre rolling maul that hooker Basson finished off with a try.

Poor defence once again allowed Samoa to regain the lead when centre Tavita sliced through the backline and with Toleafoa adding the conversion they went 12-5 ahead.

Namibia, however, gradually pulled back with flanker Peter Diergaardt and lock Wynand Breytenbach prominent amongst the forwards and after Toleafoa and Bruwer traded penalties, Namibia drew level at 15-15 when fullback Chad Plato went over from a backline attack.

Two more penalties by Bruwer either side of halftime put them 21-15 ahead, but all their good work was undone by indiscipline as they started conceding unnecessary penalties.

Samoa regained the lead after a converted try by flanker Young Yen and Namibia’s fortunes dipped further then eighthman Oderich Mouton was yellow carded for a high tackle.

Samoa capitalised in clinical fashion as they scored two tries in two minutes.

Eighthman Faamausili first burst over for a try from a tap penalty, and when fullback Paulo Fuiono cut through the backline to score behind the posts, they went 34-21 ahead.

Samoa’s forwards continued to bash away at Namibia’s try line, with Faamausili and lock Wesley Patu putting in some strong runs, and Namibia suffered a further setback when they were reduced to 13 men after replacement scrum half Hannes van Zyl was yellow carded for another high tackle.

Samoa went 41-21 ahead when flanker Solomona bashed over for a converted try to put the issue beyond doubt.

Namibia rallied strongly in the closing stages and flanker Van Wyk went over for a converted try from a rolling maul, but by then it was too late.

It was Namibia’s first defeat at the tournament after they won their first two matches in impressive style.

In their first match last Tuesday, they beat Romania 55-26, while they thrashed Hong Kong 84-10 last Saturday.

Yesterday’s result sees Samoa moving to the top of Pool A on 15 points, while Namibia drop down to second place on 10 points.

Samoa will now take on Fiji in the final on Sunday, after Fiji beat Canada 53-26 on Wednesday.

Namibia will play out for the third spot at the play-offs, most probably against Uruguay or Portugal.

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