Namibia missed out on qualification for the 2011 Junior World Rugby Trophy when they were beaten 29-15 by Zimbabwe in the final of the African qualifiers in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Friday.
It was the second consecutive year that Zimbabwe had beaten Namibia in the final and this time around they came from behind to snatch the African trophy from Namibia.
According to www.zimbabweanrugby.com Zimbabwe opened the scoring through a Nelson Thomas penalty, but it was Namibia who scored the first try of the match through eighthman Royal Otto.
Namibian wing Chase Diergaardt and Thomas exchanged penalties to make the score 8-6 to Namibia, and Tjino Tjirare extended the lead with the second try of the match, which Diergaardt converted to take the score to 15-6.
Diergaardt’s conversion was the last time Namibia troubled the scoreline, however, as Zimbabwe scored 23 unanswered points to take the title.
Jakakasi Tatanoa scored the first of two tries just before half time, before Zimbudzana Farai crossed seconds after the restart to gain the lead.
Thomas converted Farai's try and added a further penalty after 51 minutes, before Tatanoa added his second to take the score to 26-15. Thomas took his match tally to 14 points with his fourth penalty as Zimbabwe held on to lift the trophy in a memorable final.
Earlier Zimbabwe had beaten Uganda 29 to reach the final, whilst Namibia edged Tunisia 15-11. Tunisia won the third place play-off, beating Uganda 32-7.
Final Standings:
1- Zimbabwe (qualified to JWRT 2011)
2- Namibia
3- Tunisia
4- Uganda
5- Morocco
6- Kenya
7- Ivory Coast
8- Zambia