Great tournament for Namibia

Namibia went off to play in the Nations Cup in Bucharest and ended up winning the trophy as the only unbeaten side. It was a great feat. It was the fifth IRB Nations Cup, Namibia’s first win.

Two of the other sides were fellow-qualifiers for next year’s World Cup in New Zealand – Georgia and Romania – and Namibia beat them both. The winner will be decided between the Biltongboere and Italy A, who do not play each other. The outcome would be decided on points’ difference if both won all three of their matches. Italy A had the better points’ difference.

The pre-tournament favourites had been Scotland A, the title-holders, but they lost all three of their matches.. Then Georgia, the next favourites, lost two, including their match against Namibia. who also beat Romania.

So on the final day Namibia played Georgia and came from behind to beat them. Italy A needed to beat Romania and their points’ difference would win the tournament for them but, no, the Oaks beat them in a ding-dong battle, leaving Namibia the champions.

Nations Cup Results

Round 1

Namibia vs Romania 21-17
Italy A vs Argentina Jaguars, 22-20
Georgia vs Scotland A, 22-21

Round 2

Italy A vs Georgia, 21-3
Namibia vs Scotland A, 23-20
Romania vs Argentina Jaguars, 24-8

Round 3

Namibia vs Georgia, 21-16
Romania vs Italy A, 27-22
Argentina Jaguars vs Scotland A, 33-13

In the final standings the Scottish titleholders ended with the wooden spoon, lot winning a match.

The final standings are:

1. Namibia
2. Romania
3. Italy A
4. Jaguars
5. Georgia
6. Scotland A

All three of their encounters were close ones for the Namibians. captained by tough Jacques Burger, formerly of the Blue Bulls but now of Saracens in London. In fact in every one the brave Biltongboere were behind at half-time and pulled through to win.

Namibia vs Romania

Namibia came from 7-3 down at half-time to beat the Oaks on their home soil. There were two tries in the last two minutes – one to Romania to give them the lead but then Llewellyn Winkler scored for Namibia on the stroke of full time to give his side a victory

Scorers:

For Namibia:
tries: Darryl de la Harpe, Llewellyn Winkler
Con: Chrysander Botha
Pens: Chrysander Botha 3

For Romania:
Tries: Catalin Fercu, Samuel Maris
Cons: Dan Dumbrava 2
Pen: Dan Dumbrava

Teams

Nambia: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Llewellyn Winkler, 13 Piet van Zyl, 12 Darryl de la Harpe, 11 Heini Bock, 10 Jacky Bock, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 8 Tinus du Plessis, 7 Jacques Nieuwenhuis, 6 Jacques Burger (captain), 5 Nico Esterhuizen, 4 Heinz Koll, 3 Jane du Toit, 2 Shaun Esterhuizen, 1 Johnny Redelinghuys
Replacements: 16 Egbertus O’Callaghan, 17 Marius Visser, 18 Wacca Kazombiaze 19 Pieter Jan van Lill, 20 Colin De Koe 21 Godwin Walters, 22 Sergio de la Harpe

Romania: 15 Ionut Botezatu, 14 Catalin Nicolae, 13 Csaba Gal, 12 Robert Dascalu, 11 Catalin Fercu, 10 Dan Dumbrava, 9 Lucian Sirbu, 8 Sergiu Ursache, 7 Daniel Ianus, 6 Ovidiu Tonita, 5 Marius Sirbe, 4 Sorin Socol (captain), 3 Samuel Maris, 2 Bogdan Zebega, 1 Dragos Dima
Replacements: 16 Andrei Radoi, 17 Silviu Florea, 18 Valentin Ursache, 19 Stelian Burcea, 20 Florin Surugiu, 21 Ionut Dimofte, 22 Stefan Ciuntu

Referee: Aruna Ranaweera (USA) 
Assistant referees: James Jones (Wales), Andy MacPherson (Scotland)

Namibia vs Scotland

At the end of theiR first half Scotland A led 13-8.  But the Namibians took the score to 23-13 till the Scots scored a late try to give them the hope of victory.

Scoerers:

For Namibia:
Tries: Eugene Jantjies, Shaun Esterhuizen, Tinus du Plessis
Con: Chrysander Botha
Pens: Chrysander Botha 2

For Scotland A:
Tries: Bryan Rennie, Greig Laidlaw
Cons: David Blair 2
Pen: David Blair

Teams:

Namibia: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Llewellyn Winkler, 13 Piet van Zyl, 12 Darryl de la Harpe, 11 Sergio de la Harpe, 10 Jacky Bock, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 8 Pieter Jan van Lill, 7 Jacques Nieuwenhuis, 6 Jacques Burger (captain) , 5 Nico Esterhuizen, 4 Heinz Koll, 3 Marius Visser, 2 Shaun Esterhuizen, 1 Johnny Redelinghuys
Replacements: 16 Egbertus O’Callaghan, 17 Jane du Toit, 18 Wacca Kazombiaze, 19 Tinus du Plessis, 20 Colin De Koe 21 Godwin Walters 22 McGrath van Wyk

Scotland A: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 John Houston, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Bryan Rennie, 11 Mark Robertson, 10 David Blair, 9 Mark McMillan, 8 Allister Hogg (captain) , 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Roddy Grant, 5 James Eddie, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 David Young, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Bruce Douglas
Replacements: 16 Fergus Thomson, 17 Ed Kalman, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Scott Newlands, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 Alex Blair, 22 Peter Horne

Referee: Bryan Arciero (Canada)
Assistant referees: James Jones (Wales), Horatiu Bargaunas (Romania)

Namibia vs Grorgia

Georgia contributed in no short measure to their defeat. A team that gets three yellow cards in eight minutes and plays the last 10 minutes with just 13 players is asking for defeat. At one stage they had just 12 players in the field.

At half-time the Lelos lead 16-0. They did not score a point in the second half. With three minutes to go, Georgia down to 13 men, Namibia scored the winning try.

Scorers:

For Namibia:
Tries: Heinz Koll, Chrysander Botha
Con: Eugene Jantjies
Pens: Chrysander Botha 3

For Georgia:
Try: Viktor Kolelishvili
Con: Malkhaz Urjukashvili
Pens: Malkhaz Urjukashvili 3

Teams

Namibia: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Llewellyn Winkler, 13 Piet van Zyl, 12 Darryl de la Harpe, 11 Heini Bock, 10 Jacky Bock, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 8 Pieter Jan van Lill, 7 Jacques Nieuwenhuis, 6 Jacques Burger (captain) , 5 Nico Esterhuizen, 4 Heinz Koll, 3 Marius Visser, 2 Shaun Esterhuizen, 1 Johnny Redelinghuys
Replacements: 16 Egbertus O’Callaghan,   17 Jane du Toit,   18 Wacca Kazombiaze,   19 Tinus du Plessis,   20 Colin De Koe,   21 Godwin Walters,   22 McGrath van Wyk

Georgia: 15 Malkhaz Urjukashvili, 14 Alexander Todua, 13 Tedo Zibzibadze (captain) , 12 Revaz Gigauri, 11 Irakli Chkhikvadze, 10 Merab Kvirikashvili, 9 Bidzina Samkharadze, 8 Viktor Kolelishvili, 7 Lasha Tavartkiladze, 6 Simon Maisuradze, 5 Kakha Uchava, 4 Shalva Sutiashvili, 3 Beka Sheklashvili, 2 David Dadunashvili, 1 Karlen Asieshvili
Replacements: 16 Iuri Natriashvili,   17 Vasil Kakovin,   18 Konstantin Mikautadze,   19 Jaba Bregvadze,   20 Lasha Khmaladze,   21 Mamuka Ninidze,   22 Irakli Kiasashvili

Yellow cards: Viktor Kolelishvili, Mamuka Ninidze, Vasil Kakovin

Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Andy MacPherson (Scotland), Haratiu Bargaumas (Rumania)