Namibia win Africa Cup

Convincing victory in unsavoury match

Earlier this year Morocco beat Namibia 27-7 in Morocco to win the Confederation of African Rugby's Top 10 competition. In the second tournament, Namibia have turned tables on the Moroccans by winning 39-22 at the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek. It was not a gentle match.

Most of the Moroccans play their rugby in France and they rely heavily on their big robust pack, which the wet conditions should have suited. The Namibians stood their ground and thoroughly deserved their win. Two late tries gave the Moroccan score some respectability.

If cards are an indication of the excessive physicality of the match, then that was the case in Windhoek when there were two red cards and four yellow cards.

For Namibia the stars were Domingo Kamonga, two-try Jurie van Tonder at scrumhalf, centre Du Preez Grobler and Blue Bull powerhouse Kees Lensing who was punched in the very first scrum. For Morocco their veteran captain Jalil Narjissi was outstanding.

Morocco scored first. After flyhalf Morné Schreuder had missed with two shots at goal Thomas Garcia goaled a penalty for Morocco. 3-0 after 11 minutes.

Schreuder equalised and then Namibia scored the first try of the match when Van Tonder went over after Grobler had forced an outside break. Schreuder converted. 10-3 to Namibia after 25 minutes.

This was followed by the first two yellow cards of the match - for hooker Narjissi and No.8 Abdelatif Boutaty. Schreuder kicked another penalty to give his side a 13-3 lead at half-time.

Right at the start of the second half replacement Mohamed Dermouni profited by Zambian handling errors to score. 13-8 after 41 minutes.

Lensing charged, the Moroccans were penalised for being off-side, Grobler broke and left Rian van Wyk caught a difficult pass on his toes. Van Wyk gave to Hendrik Meyer who went over with three Moroccans clinging to him. 18-8.

Lion-tamer Schalk van der Merwe won a turn-over, and Van Tonder scored his second try, which Schreuder converted. 25-8

A fight between Van der Merwe and Youness Wazzawi were both sent to the sin-bin for fighting, after which Michael McKenzie replaced him and celebrated his arrival on the field with a try. Schreuder converted. 32-8

After yet more fighting, René Kruger and Sofiane Quelai, both replacements, were shown red cards. Morocco were penalised and Herman Lintvelt, who had been the victim who sparked the violence, scored after Lensing had made another storming run. Schreuder converted. 39-8.

In injury time, which lasted 15 minutes, the determined Moroccans scored tries through Boutaty and replacement Boubaha Boujouala, both of which Garcia converted.

Scorers:

For Namibia:
Tires: Van Tonder 2, Meyer, McKenzie, Lintvelt
Cons: Schreuder 4
Pens: Schreuder 2

For Morocco:
Tries: Dermouni, Boutaty, Boujouala
Cons: Garcia 2
Pen: Garcia

The teams:

Namibia: 15 Hendrik Meyer, 14 Jaco Kotzé, 13 Du Preez Grobler, 12 Corné Powell (captain), 11 Rian van Wyk, 10 Morné Schreuder, 9 Jurie van Tonder, 8 Jacques Burger, 7 Herman Lintvelt, 6 Schalk van der Merwe, 5 Domingo Kamonga, 4 Johannes Theron, 3 Martyn Jearry, 2 Cor van Tonder, 1 Kees Lensing.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Rossouw, 17 Niel Swanepoel, 18 Rodger Thompson, 19 René Kruger, 20 Ivan Gay, 21 Rheder van Wyk, 22 Michael Mackenzie.

Morocco: 15 A Chamid, 14 M El Haijji, 13 Younes Derraz, 12 G Chamid, 11 R Zine, 10 Thomas Garcia, 9 Jaouad Eziyar, 8 Abdellatif Boutaty, 7 Matthias Garcia, 6 Hicham Housni, 5 Y Wazzawi, 4 Nourredine Salmi, 3 A Bayay, 2 Jalil Narjissi, 1 Mounir Jaoui.
Replacements: 16 M El Hanzaoui, 17 S Quelai, 18 I Bencheict, 19 Boubaha Boujouala, 20 Mouchine Ouajdi, 21 Yousri Faik, 22 Mohammed Dermouni

Referee: Eugene Daniels (South Africa)
Touch judges: Louis Mzomba, Jerome America (both South Africa)
Match commissioner: Paul Sigombe (Uganda)