Rugby

Namibian rugby’s prowess in Africa over the past decade has come under threat following their defeat to Madagascar on Sunday which has made qualification for the 2015 Rugby World Cup much more difficult to attain.

Namibia has qualified for the last four Rugby World Cups in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011, but qualification for 2015 will now be much more difficult following their 57-54 defeat to Madagascar on Sunday in the final of the IRB Africa Cup Division 1B competition.

Madagascar beat Namibia 57-54 after extra time to win the Africa Rugby Cup Division 1B tournament in Madagascar on Sunday afternoon.

In a thrilling match that went into extra time with the teams level at 43-all at the end of normal time, Namibia held a 54-51 lead with two minutes to go.

But the home side scored the winning try in the final minute of the game to send their 35 000 fans into ecstasy.

Defending champions Neo Paints Reho Falcon surged to the top of the Rugby Premier League log after a hard-fought 29-25 victory against former log leaders United in Rehoboth on Saturday.

United still held a 15-5 lead at halftime but a sterling second half performance saw Falcons secure the victory.

They scored four tries in the process to obtain an extra bonus point and are now one point clear of the chasing pack at the top of the log.

Flyhalf Theuns Kotze came to Namibia’s rescue with a converted try and a drop goal in the final minutes of the match as they narrowly beat Senegal 20-18 in their Africa Cup Division B rugby match in Antananarivo, Madagascar on Wednesday afternoon.

Senegal seemed set for a shock victory when they held an 18-10 lead with less than ten minutes to go.

Kotze caught Senegal’s defence by surprise as he took a quick tap penalty to dart over for a try under the posts, which he converted himself to narrow the deficit to 18-17.

Namibia’s long march to a fifth successive Rugby World Cup starts on Wednesday when they take on Senegal in Division B of the African Cup in Madagascar.

The hosts Madagascar and Morocco will also be in action with the two winners to meet in the tournament final next Monday.

The overall winner will be promoted to Division A of the African Cup, where the 2015 World Cup qualifiers will then continue next year.

The University of Namibia (Unam) rugby team will make their second consecutive appearance at the annual University Sports South Africa (USSA) Varsity Rugby Cup that starts at the Wits Rugby Fields on Monday, July 2 and will see 32 teams in action.

Unam left for Johannesburg on Saturday to take their place in Pool B of the USSA Varsity Cup and will start their campaign with an opening fixture against Central University of Technology (CUT) on Monday morning.

In the other Pool B match Fort Hare University takes on Varsity College.

Namibian rugby coach Danie Vermeulen said he was not too happy with their performance on Saturday when they lost 34-24 to the South African Universities, but there were also some positive aspects to take from the match.

“I am quite disappointed with our performance because we set several targets that we did not meet. We made too many mistakes, especially on defence, while there were also too many handling errors. But we had several newcomers and this was our first match together, so that was to be expected,” he said.

Namibia’s rugby team got their 2012 campaign off to a losing start as they lost 34-24 to South African Universities at the National Rugby Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The match served as preparation for Namibia’s opening 2015 World Cup qualifiers in Madagascar next weekend and on this performance they still have a lot of work to do.

The Namibian team, which showed several newcomers, played in fits and starts, with their team work and overall supportive play lacking while defensive lapses gave the visitors several tries on a plate.

Namibian rugby coach Danie Vermeulen has named a 22-man squad to take on South Africa Universities in a friendly match in Windhoek on Saturday, June 23.

The team will be captained by Wasps flanker Tinus du Plessis and includes six foreign-based players.

They are Leopards winger Danie Dames, left wing Chrysander Botha of the University of Johannesburg, flyhalf theuns Kotze, who represented South Western Districts in the Vodacom Cup this season, lock Henk Franken and fullback Lean Stoop who both play for Hamiltons in Cape Town.

Unam were the big winners in Round 6 of the MTC Rugby Premier League, moving to joint top of the log after a 38-24 victory against Dolphins.

With Wanderers and United both dropping points in draws to Reho Falcon and Mariental respectively, Unam has now joined them on 17 points at the top of the log.

Rehoboth, meanwhile, suffered a surprise 25-11 defeat at home to Western Suburbs and are now joint second with Reho Falcon on 16 points.