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Namibia saw off Zimbabwe in a RWC qualifier today, winning 58-28 in Harare. The result retains the Welwitschias unbeaten record in the 2018 Africa Gold Cup.
The Africa Gold Cup is Africa’s championship. It is a Six Nations competition with the continent’s best involved, excluding South Africa. With the Springboks having prequalified for RWC 2019, the six involved in the Africa Gold Cup are competing to join the them in Japan 2019.
The winner of the Africa Gold Cup will be Africa 1. This country will literally be joining South Africa in Pool B of the Japan hosted tournament. The challenging group contains Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Africa 1 and the Repechage Winner.
The Repechage Winner is to be determined in November. At a special Global Repechage tournament in Marseille, France Africa 2 will join Canada, Germany, and Hong Kong in competing for the 20th, and final place at RWC 2019.
Today’s win in Harare all but confirms that Namibia’s match against Kenya on August 20 will determine who is Africa 1 and who is Africa 2. Namibia’s qualifying matches have been impressive. The Welwitschias opened with a 55-6 win over Uganda. From there they defeated Tunisia 118-0 and Morocco 63-7.
Not only have Namibia won by huge scorelines they have done so by playing scintillating rugby. Against Tunisia, Namibia ran in a stunning 18 tries. They scored a combined 18 tries against Morocco and Uganda to have 36 tries from three RWC qualifiers before today’s match.
Winger JC Greyling scored six tries in two appearances while fellow winger Lesley Klim and fullback Chrysander Botha each had four tries prior to today’s assignment in Harare. Added to this is the boot of fly half Cliven Loubser. His return had been an average of 17 points per match.
Namibia is chasing not only a place in RWC 2019 but their easiest possible change in history of coming away with a victory. Having been winless at RWCs 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015 Namibia is seeking to change this in 2019 by winning a pool match for the first time.
Being pooled against the Repechage Winner is Namibia’s strongest opportunity in history. Getting there will require more impressive rugby as Kenya loom as being no pushovers.
In their RWC 2019 qualifying matches thus far, the Simbas have also been undefeated. Kenya opened with a 28-24 away win over Morocco and followed it up by beating Zimbabwe 45-36. The results did not see Kenya seeing a bonus point, this being the difference between Kenya and Namibia in the Africa Gold Cup.
In their third match Kenya defeated neighboring Uganda 38-22. Their fourth game is to be next Saturday against Tunisia. A home win for the Simbas will confirm the August 18 match in Windhoek as being the defining match as to who qualifies as Africa 1 and to who will face Canada, Germany, and Hong Kong in repechage.
