Namibia run out of steam

Namibia played with passion and determination, but ultimately ran out of steam as they went down 52-8 to Italy in their opening match at the Rugby World Cup in France on Saturday. 

Namibia got off to a fine start and when they went into halftime trailing only 17-8 they might have fancied their chances of causing a major upset. 

It wasn’t to be though, as Italy, stepped up their attacks, and with cracks starting to appear in the tiring Namibian defence, Italy ran in three tries in the last 10 minutes to run away with the game. 

That final score maybe flattered the Italians a bit, which Namibian coach Allister Coetzee alluded to in his post match press conference. 

“The scoreboard reflects something different to what I saw and perceived. We definitely were in it for 50 minutes and applied some good pressure. But I suppose against a Tier One side there is always a challenge with the set-pieces, while they were superior in mauling and at scrum time. We also had a yellow card early in the game and conceded 14 points in that period. But I’m still very proud of the team, a team that never gives up – that’s what I want to see, a team that tries to play till the end,” he said. 

Hooker Torsten van Jaarsveldt picked up the yellow card after only 10 minutes, after obstructing Italian attacks on Namibia’s tryline, and Italy immediately took advantage with two tries in three minutes. 

Eighthman Lorenzo Cazzone first crashed over from a maul, and then flyhalf Paulo Garbisi cut through the backline to touch down after Italy pounced onto a wayward lineout throw by Richard Hardwick, deputising for Van Jaarsveld.

Despite being a man down Namibia struck back with a great try by winger Gerswin Mouton, diving over in the corner after a long pass by Steenkamp, and with Namibia repelling repeated Italian attacks with some great defence, they were still right in it at the break. 

Italy, however, upped the tempo with lock Dino Lamb bashing over, and when winger Andy Capuozzu dived over after an expansive backline attack, they went 31-8 ahead.

Namibia came back strongly with Danco Burger held up just short of the line, while a strong Namibian driving maul with backs joining in was also just held up. 

Namibia kept on pushing, but defensive cracks started to appear and Italy pounced with three late tries by Epalahame Faiva, Manuel Zuliani and Paolo Odogwu. With fullback Tommaso Allan adding 17 points with a faultless kicking display they ran out comprehensive winners, but Coetzee said they tried to make a game of it. 

“We wanted to score some tries and have a go at them, but then we made a couple of mistakes and they capitalised on that. If we played conservatively, we would not be able to score tries, and that was the thinking, that we had to have a go at them. Otherwise, by keeping it too structured and too conservative, we would never have been able to close the gap,” he said. 

Namibian captain Johan Deysel reiterated Coetzee’s view.

“I think from the from the start our boys saw that we we can take them on, but in the end if you make mistakes against a Tier One team like Italy they will punish you, so I think that was the difference in the end. Like the coach said, we had to play to chase some points. We couldn’t just play conservative and keep the scoreline down, but we kept playing until the end and I think the boys showed a lot of guts,” he said.