Loss to Kenya likely concedes Barthes Cup
Rugby
Namibia’s fate were taken out of their hands after they lost 28-34 to Kenya on match day 1 of the Rugby Africa Under-20 Barthes Cup tournament in Harare on Saturday.Costly errors under the high ball and in defence contributed to Namibia falling behind 6-20 by halftime, before launching a comeback with four tries in the second half to briefly cut the deficit to 28-29, before the Kenyans once again struck the decisive blow.
Even though the Namibians performed well in the scrums and lineout mauls, they were undone by the Kenyans who found ways to beat their defence out wide, sometimes through a favourable kick bounce.
Namibia worked hooker Armand Combrinck over for two tries from lineout mauls, while lock Arenzo Izaacs rounded off a pick and go try from behind a ruck close to the Kenyan line.
Right wing Suramie Kambombo was also put into space for an unconverted try in the corner. While flyhalf Van der Merwe Tromp contributed two penalties, the only successful conversion for Namibia was landed when fullback Ashton van Wyk took over.
Van Wyk and replacement wing Henrick van Schalkwyk however ended up among the soft spots in the tries conceded by Namibia – first failing to stop centre Michael Wamalwa as a crash-ball runner close to the line, before later colliding into each other under a high ball which then landed in the path of Kenyan fullback Eugene Ojiambo who stormed through.
The final nail in the coffin, off the last move of the match, was the Kenyan try off a cross-kick that produced a cruel bounce on the Namibian outside backs.
Only the winner of this tournament will claim a place in the World Rugby Under-20 Trophy tournament to be hosted in Scotland later this year. Namibia has not qualified to take this step up since 2018.
Co-captained by the two hookers Edward Drotsky, who started against Kenya, and Armand Combrinck, the Namibians will now need a shock win against defending champions and hosts Zimbabwe in their own back yard on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe junior Sables looked very impressive in front of a massive and boisteroud crowd when they beat Tunisia 46-21 on Saturday. Speed, accurate execution, explosive runners and tons of flair will be key aspects of the challenge faced by Namibia if they hope to dethrone the highly confident hosts.
Even then, they would still need still Zimbabwe to beat Kenya and create a three-way tie, with a points difference hopefully in Namibia’s favour.