Namibia 25-14 Cook Islands

Namibia secured third place in Pool A with a 25-14 victory over the Cook Islands at the Estadio San Carlos on Wednesday.

Both sides made a number of changes to their starting line ups in a bid to claim an elusive first win in the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy. However, it was the Namibians who took control of the match early on courtesy of a dominant forward display to run out convincing winners and book a place in Sunday's fifth place play off.

The first half was a tight affair, with neither side daring to take too many risks, but it was the Cooks Islands that broke the deadlock through the boot of fly half Roney Maui, who sent the ball soaring between the uprights for an early 3-0 lead.

Spurred into action, Namibia pressed to get back into the match and soon responded when Shawn Kaizemi crossed for a try, which the centre converted to give his side a 7-3 advantage.

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With a powerful Namibian side in the ascendancy, it was looking as though the Cook Islands would struggle, but although Namibia stretched further ahead via a Kaizemi penalty, the Cooks fought valiantly and created a number of opportunities of their own.

With time running out in the half, the Cooks Islands battered the Namibia line and were rewarded with their first try of the night courtesy of prop Alex Woonton’s push for the line. Although the conversion drifted wide of the upright the Cook Islands were just two points adrift.

With the match balanced on a knife edge it looked as though the Cooks had done enough to go into the interval within a score, but as the clocked ticked over for the fourth minute of first half injury time, Namibia dealt a significant blow as hooker Theo Coetzee crashed over to secure his side a welcome 15-8 buffer at half time.

In a gripping match of high quality, the Santiago crowd were treated to a superb second half of rugby during which the Cook Islands threw everything at their Namibian counterparts in a concerted attempt to regain the lead.

However, it was the superb tactical kicking of the Namibian back three that kept the Cooks Islands at bay and the African side stretched their lead further via a Robert Bergh penalty, before Kaizemi added to his personal tally with a breathtaking 55 metre drop goal that took the Namibians almost out of sight at 18-11.

The Cooks Islands came back strongly and dominated the middle section of the half as they pressed for a second try and they were eventually rewarded for their efforts with a second Maui penalty, which reduced the arrears to just four points with 13 minutes to go.

That, though, was as close as the Cooks were to come as despite the introduction of fresh legs, the islanders were unable to secure the all important try. With time running out and Namibia’s defence dominating, it seemed as though the match would not deliver another try.

However, as the Cooks pressed, mistakes were forthcoming and Namibia capitalised and closed out the match through replacement Cedric Haraseb’s try six minutes from time. Kaizemi added the icing to the cake with a superbly struck conversion to make the final score 25-14.

Namibia will now meet Korea in the fifth place play off at 12:00 local time on Sunday at the Stade Francais Club, while the Cook Islands will meet Jamaica in the seventh place playoff on the same day with both sides seeking a first victory.

QUOTES

Namibia wing Chrysander Botha: “I really feel proud to be a part of this team and we eventually won thanks to a fine defensive effort. We can now concentrate on our next match and would like to sign off with a win.”

Namibia captain Thomasau Forbes: “We produced some great tackling today, which was the key to the win. We played considerably better than the first two matches and stuck at it – our defence made the difference.”

Namibia secured third place in Pool A with a 25-14 victory over the Cook Islands at the Estadio San Carlos on Wednesday.

Both sides made a number of changes to their starting line ups in a bid to claim an elusive first win in the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy. However, it was the Namibians who took control of the match early on courtesy of a dominant forward display to run out convincing winners and book a place in Sunday's fifth place play off.

The first half was a tight affair, with neither side daring to take too many risks, but it was the Cooks Islands that broke the deadlock through the boot of fly half Roney Maui, who sent the ball soaring between the uprights for an early 3-0 lead.

Spurred into action, Namibia pressed to get back into the match and soon responded when Shawn Kaizemi crossed for a try, which the centre converted to give his side a 7-3 advantage.

With a powerful Namibian side in the ascendancy, it was looking as though the Cook Islands would struggle, but although Namibia stretched further ahead via a Kaizemi penalty, the Cooks fought valiantly and created a number of opportunities of their own.

With time running out in the half, the Cooks Islands battered the Namibia line and were rewarded with their first try of the night courtesy of prop Alex Woonton’s push for the line. Although the conversion drifted wide of the upright the Cook Islands were just two points adrift.

With the match balanced on a knife edge it looked as though the Cooks had done enough to go into the interval within a score, but as the clocked ticked over for the fourth minute of first half injury time, Namibia dealt a significant blow as hooker Theo Coetzee crashed over to secure his side a welcome 15-8 buffer at half time.

In a gripping match of high quality, the Santiago crowd were treated to a superb second half of rugby during which the Cook Islands threw everything at their Namibian counterparts in a concerted attempt to regain the lead.

However, it was the superb tactical kicking of the Namibian back three that kept the Cooks Islands at bay and the African side stretched their lead further via a Robert Bergh penalty, before Kaizemi added to his personal tally with a breathtaking 55 metre drop goal that took the Namibians almost out of sight at 18-11.

The Cooks Islands came back strongly and dominated the middle section of the half as they pressed for a second try and they were eventually rewarded for their efforts with a second Maui penalty, which reduced the arrears to just four points with 13 minutes to go.

That, though, was as close as the Cooks were to come as despite the introduction of fresh legs, the islanders were unable to secure the all important try. With time running out and Namibia’s defence dominating, it seemed as though the match would not deliver another try.

However, as the Cooks pressed, mistakes were forthcoming and Namibia capitalised and closed out the match through replacement Cedric Haraseb’s try six minutes from time. Kaizemi added the icing to the cake with a superbly struck conversion to make the final score 25-14.

Namibia will now meet Korea in the fifth place play off at 12:00 local time on Sunday at the Stade Francais Club, while the Cook Islands will meet Jamaica in the seventh place playoff on the same day with both sides seeking a first victory.

QUOTES

Namibia wing Chrysander Botha: “I really feel proud to be a part of this team and we eventually won thanks to a fine defensive effort. We can now concentrate on our next match and would like to sign off with a win.”

Namibia captain Thomasau Forbes: “We produced some great tackling today, which was the key to the win. We played considerably better than the first two matches and stuck at it – our defence made the difference.”