Welwitschias scrape past Portugal

THE Welwitschias put in a messy shift to eventually beat Portugal 29-23 in a second-round IRB Nations Cup match on Wednesday.

The elements can often be a great equaliser in rugby and heavy rain enabled Namibia, who seemed more savvy and adept at changing tactics, to prevail against their gallant opponents Portugal in a hard and uncompromising battle.The light shower that greeted the end of the match between Romania and the South African Kings had turned into a tropical downpour by the time the day’s third and final match got underway and Portugal failed to adapt to the conditions for the majority.’We struggled to adapt to the weather and then rushed too much, instead of taking our time,’ admitted coach Errol Brian. ‘Their (Namibia’s) kicking game was excellent and we had no reply to it. This is tournament rugby, one day up, one day down.’The fact that Portugal lost by less than a converted try illustrates how close the contest still was, as Namibia skipper Jacques Nieuwenhuis was only too happy to admit.’We knew it was going to be a tough encounter and prepared accordingly. The rain threw us back a bit, because we did not expect it, but we had a chat and decided to change the plan. The ball was very slippery and we decided to keep it tight and let them run the ball. They kept running it and we defended it,’ he said.Johaan Diergaardt was pleased to be able to recall his number one flyhalf for the match, which paid dividends.’It was not a perfect game, but we won playing to our strengths. The presence of Theuns Kotze at number 10 made the difference, I would say. He kept the board ticking over with his kicking, which really made the difference. We missed him badly against Romania, and he showed his quality tonight,’ added the coach. In other matches, the South African Kings are top of the Nations Cup standings after defeating hosts Romania 27-23, whilst Georgia prevailed narrowly 14-13 against the Jaguars to record their first win at the tournament. On the third and final match day on Sunday, the South African Kings take on Portugal, Georgia play reigning champions Namibia and hosts Romania face the Argentina Jaguars. – irb.com

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