Rugby

Namibia lost their final match at the Rugby World Cup 30-0 to Georgia on Wednesday night, after trailing 16-0 at halftime.
In a hard, physical battle, Georgia gained the upper hand amongst the forwards, gradually wearing down Namibia with their driving mauls.

Georgia and Namibia go into their Pool D match on Wednesday with the chance to make history for their respective nations.
Neither has won a rugby world cup match in the past and the coaches of both sides have been targeting this fixture as their best chance.

By Festus Nakatana

The Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) has condemned the chaotic scenes that marred the MTC Rugby Premier League second round final match between Wanderers and Reho Falcons at the Hage Geingob stadium last Saturday.

Argentina overpowered Namibia to win their Rugby World Cup match 63-3 in Marseille on Saturday evening, after leading 25-3 at halftime.
Namibia were competitive for the first quarter of the match and even took the lead when flyhalf Morne Schreuder landed a penalty in the 6th minute. But once Argentina scored their opening try in the 24th minute, they took control of the game and went on to run in nine tries in a comprehensive victory.

Reho Falcon beat Wanderers 34-26 in a controversial final of the MTC Rugby Premier League at the Hage Geingob Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

In a fiery match, four players received red cards, while the referee dished out a further four yellow cards â?? all against Wanderers players. When Wanderers were down to 14 and even 13 men at a stage, Reho Falcon pressed home their advantage to go 29-6 ahead at halftime.

Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, John Mutorwa has expressed his dismay at the ticket scandal that the Namibia Rugby Union has become involved in and called for a written report from the NRU.

The president of the Namibia Rugby Union, Dirk Conradie accused a white group of trying to undermine their efforts and vowed not to quit as head of the NRU.
Conradie held a press conference in Windhoek to give feedback on his meeting with the Internationl Rugby Board in Paris on September 13. Here, the IRB upheld its ban on Conradie and NRU CEO Christo Alexander to attend the Rugby World Cupâ??s VIP programme, following perceived irregularities in the sale of Namibian tickets for the World Cup, while it also excluded the NRU from ticket sales for the next World Cup in 2011.

France overwhelmed Namibia with an emphatic display of attacking rugby to win their World Cup Pool D match 87-10 in Toulouse on Sunday evening.
Namibiaâ??s cause was not helped when they were reduced to 14 men after only 18 minutes, when eighthman Jacques Nieuwenhuis was sent off for a high tackle. Namibia tried gamely to keep France at bay, but the French just had too much firepower and raked in a total of 13 tries.

REHO Falcon and Wanderers qualified for the MTC Premier League final after winning their semi-finals in contrasting fashion on Saturday.

Reho Falcon were just too classy for an inexperienced United, winning their encounter 34-10, while Wanderers had to pull out all the stops to beat Suburbs 28-27.

Namibian rugby coach Hakkies Husselman has made two changes to his team to take on France in their second Rugby World Cup match in Toulouse, France on Sunday.

Jurie van Tonder replaces Eugene Jantjies at scrumhalf, while Michael McKenzie comes in for the injured Heino Senekal at flank.