Namibia are through to the final of the Rugby Africa Cup after an impressive 21-7 victory against Algeria in Kampala yesterday.
Namibia’s defence was superb as they constantly drove Algeria back with their ferocious tackles, while tries by captain Prince !Gaoseb and Cliven Loubser, who added 11 points with the boot, gave them a well-deserved victory.
Nothing much separated the teams in the opening stages as they both put in strong attacks, but the opposing defences held sway with some crash tackles on both sides. Here, the Namibian loose trio of !Gaoseb, Wian Conradie, and Richard Hardwick impressed with their relentless pressure, while hooker Louis van der Westhuizen was also prominent in defence.
Namibia took the lead through a penalty by fullback Cliven Loubser after 14 minutes, but Algeria immediately struck back when their lock forward crashed over from a third-phase attack, and with the fullback adding the conversion, they went 8-3 ahead.
Their lead didn’t last long, though, as !Gaoseb finished off a great rolling maul to burst over for a try and although Loubser’s conversion went narrowly wide, Namibia went 8-7 ahead.
Namibia maintained the tempo and soon increased their lead when Le Roux Malan snapped up a loose ball, and a quick pass by Johan Retief put Loubser clear to race through for a try, which he converted to put Namibia 15-7 ahead.
Lock Oliver Kurz also crossed the whitewash, but the try was disallowed for an earlier infringement, as Namibia headed into the halftime break with an eight-point advantage.
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Namibia came out firing after the break, laying siege to Algeria’s try line, but desperate defence kept Danco Burger and Jurgen Meyer out. Namibia’s pressure started to take its toll, though, and two Loubser penalties within three minutes gave them a bit of breathing space with a 21-7 lead.
Algeria struck back with constant attacks, but Namibia’s defence stood firm, to the frustration of the Algerians, who started to lose their composure. Namibian eighthman Richard Hardwick was yellow-carded after one such altercation, but despite being a man down, Algeria could not break Namibia’s defence down as the Welwitschias held on for an impressive victory.
Namibia are now through to the final, where they will meet Zimbabwe who beat Kenya 29-23 in the second semifinal.
The winner of next Saturday’s final will gain direct entry to the 2027 Rugby World Cup, which is set to take place in Australia, although the runner-up will also have an outside chance of qualifying via an inter-continental repechage tournament.
