Namibia lose to Russia
The Namibians, coached by Welshman Phil Davies, were whitewashed by the Russian team, mentored by former Namibia national team coach Lyn Jones.
Namibia's senior national rugby team failed to capitalise on their momentum from an earlier win over Uruguay and were defeated 20-0 by Russia on Saturday in their final match of the World Rugby Nations Cup.
The Russians were the better team in a match marred by yellow cards. Namibia received three and Russia one.
The halftime score was 13-0 after an early penalty and a converted try put the Russians in charge. By the end of the match, the Namibians had not scored a point.
The Namibians beat defending champions Uruguay in their second match. That match ended 30-28 in the Namibian team's favour, as they recorded their first win at the tournament.
This was definitely a sweet victory for the Namibians after they lost their first match 25-39 against Argentina XV. The warm-up tournament forms part of the team's preparations for the upcoming 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Filled with a squad comprised of youthful and experienced players, Namibia will play alongside Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Italy in Group B in Japan.
Heading into the final round of Nations Cup, all four sides - Uruguay, Russia, Argentina XV and Namibia - had one win and one loss to their names, meaning that first place was still mathematically achievable for all the competing teams.
A bonus point victory for Argentina would have seen them take the crown, while Uruguay simply needed to secure a victory. All other permutations would have seen Russia top the log.
The sub-par weather in Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, meant that tries were always going to be hard to come by. This, of course, did not work in Argentina's favour, as they needed to touch-down four times to secure the championship.
As the game developed, it became increasingly clear that a bonus point victory was not on the cards for the Argentina. Uruguay scored the first try of the match within ten minutes of kick-off and never gave up their lead. Uruguay were ahead 20-10 at halftime and Argentina could do nothing to wrestle a victory off the 2017 and 2018 champions.
The match finished 28-15 in Uruguay's favour and consigned Argentina to a third place finish.
–Additional info by RugbyPass
LIMBA MUPETRAMI
The Russians were the better team in a match marred by yellow cards. Namibia received three and Russia one.
The halftime score was 13-0 after an early penalty and a converted try put the Russians in charge. By the end of the match, the Namibians had not scored a point.
The Namibians beat defending champions Uruguay in their second match. That match ended 30-28 in the Namibian team's favour, as they recorded their first win at the tournament.
This was definitely a sweet victory for the Namibians after they lost their first match 25-39 against Argentina XV. The warm-up tournament forms part of the team's preparations for the upcoming 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Filled with a squad comprised of youthful and experienced players, Namibia will play alongside Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Italy in Group B in Japan.
Heading into the final round of Nations Cup, all four sides - Uruguay, Russia, Argentina XV and Namibia - had one win and one loss to their names, meaning that first place was still mathematically achievable for all the competing teams.
A bonus point victory for Argentina would have seen them take the crown, while Uruguay simply needed to secure a victory. All other permutations would have seen Russia top the log.
The sub-par weather in Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, meant that tries were always going to be hard to come by. This, of course, did not work in Argentina's favour, as they needed to touch-down four times to secure the championship.
As the game developed, it became increasingly clear that a bonus point victory was not on the cards for the Argentina. Uruguay scored the first try of the match within ten minutes of kick-off and never gave up their lead. Uruguay were ahead 20-10 at halftime and Argentina could do nothing to wrestle a victory off the 2017 and 2018 champions.
The match finished 28-15 in Uruguay's favour and consigned Argentina to a third place finish.
–Additional info by RugbyPass
LIMBA MUPETRAMI
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