The Boland Cavaliers beat a Namibian Invitation team 58-5 in a friendly match at the Hage Geingoib Rugby Stadium on June 23.
On a chilly winterâ??s night the Namibian team defended well to keep the visitors down to a 13-0 lead at halftime, but after the break the floodgates opened as the visitors ran in a total of eight tries.
Hard work in store
The match served as final preparation for Namibiaâ??s crucial World Cujp qualifying match against Tunisia in Tunis on July 1, but the scoreline suggests that Namibia still has a lot of hard work in store.
With their bigger and heavier forwards, Boland enjoyed the lionâ??s share of the possession and pushed Namibiaâ??s scrum back at will, while their locks dominated the line-outs. With scraps of possession, Namibia did not have many attacking opportunities, and they hardly troubled Bolandâ??s defence.
Bolandâ??s fullback Justin Peach put them ahead through two early penalties within the first 10 minutes. Namibia did well to keep the visitors at bay with some courageous defending, but just before halftime the visitors went further ahead. From a loose maul the ball quickly spun down the backline for rightwing Rayno Benjamin to go over in the corner. Peach added the conversion with a great kick from the touchline.
Venter rings the changes
Namibian coach Johan Venter made a few changes at halftime, bringing on two hookers JM Meyer and Cor van Tonder and lock Jassie Genis. He also made several changes amongst the backs, but these backfired as Boland took complete control of the match. With Bolandâ??s speedy backline running havoc they ran in seven more tries.
Eighthman Callie Wannenberg opened the floodgates and further tries followed in quick succession. Scrumhalf Charl Blom went over, Benjamin added his second try, Peach scored an intercept try, the centres Piet van Zyl and Kobus Meintjies scored one each and left wing Renfred Dazel completed the rout.
Peach added two conversions and replacement back Angelo Brinkhuys added three more.
Namibia got a late consolation try through replacement back Roger Thompson who went over in the corner after a quick backline movement.
Venter used the match to blood several new Namibian players. They included flank Tinus du Plessis, playing for Stellenbosch Universityâ??s first team, prop Leinard van der Linde of the North Cape and hooker Jaco Swanepoel of Wanderers.
Namibiaâ??s pack was, however, thoroughly outplayed by Boland and it will need to be strengthened by players like props Kees Lensing and Deon van den Berg, lock Heino Senekal and flank Herman Lintvelt for the Tunisia encounter.