adminhosts Zimbabwe in the Junior Africa Cup.
Uganda scored two converted tries while Namibia managed a penalty and three tries, two of them converted.
It might have been a rest day for the Young Sables, but coach Brigh-ton Chivandire and his charges watched yesterday’s match knowing that a victory for the Namibians would mean they would face them in Saturday’s final.
The Young Sables may however, be deceived into relaxing ahead of the final as the Namibians laboured to beat Uganda and never rose to their full potential.
It was Namibia’s second win in the tournament having upset Tunisia 9-8 on day one of the week-long event but they are still second behind the hosts on the Pool A standings.
Zimbabwe have nine points from two wins after collecting a bonus point against Tunisia, with the remaining four points coming from their victory over winless Uganda.
The Young Sables registered their second win in the tournament after convincingly beating Tunisia 34-0 on Tuesday that ensured they stay on course to defend their title as the African champions.
Zimbabwe have been winning the tournament over the past two years and are hopeful they will retain the title in front of their home crowd on Saturday.
However, Namibia showed their intention to leave for Nairobi with the trophy when they got the better of Uganda at Jubilee Field.
The game was, however, characterised by a lot of mishandling as Namibia wasted a number of clear chances, giving Uganda an opportunity to recover.
By half time Namibia had taken a 3-0 lead following a penalty that was converted by fullback Daniel Back and that was all that separated the two sides going into the break.
Back proved awful in taking the spot kicks, missing plain chances that came his way and early in the second half he missed penalty opportunities twice in front of the posts as his side tried to reduce pressure by gaining points through the boot.
It was not until the 45th minute that Namibia scored their first try through Reimers Sven to stretch their lead to 8-0.
But as he had exhibited before Back could not convert and a chance to further increase the lead was lost.
Before Namibia could really settle, Uganda fullback Phillip Wokorach crossed the Namibia whitewash after he was set up by Justin Kimono to plant his effort on the right corner.
Flyhalf Jasper Ochen made no mistake with the boot to reduce the defict to 8-7. Namibia were forced to make a substitution after winger Jivan Rube suffered a knock on the head and had to be replaced by Pieter Cronje on the outside. Double try scorer and lock Christian van Wyk extended Namibia’s lead and following Back’s series of misses, the responsibility to convert was given to scrumhalf Jasper Englebrecht.
Englebrect’s precision paid off as it helped his side to gain the bonus points as Namibia led 15-7.
A few minutes later, van Wyk was back to haunt the Uganda defence after he was set up by winger Nandivatu Karuhombe who made a perfect run before offloading the ball to van Wyk in the Uganda 22metre area.
On his way to scoring the try, van Wyk had to shrug off the challenges of two Uganda defenders before placing Namibia’s last try which Englebrect once agin converted.
But Uganda tried to stage a late comeback with the East Africans just beating the final whistle to score a try, which Ochen booted over.
Teams:
Namibia: Desiderius Sethie, Hannes Dirsuwei, Ockert Mastert, Christian van Wyk, Virgil Bester, Kevin Thysman, Sven Reimers, Erick Jordaan, Jasper Englebrecht, Jube Leots, Nandivatu Karuhombe, Alkino Isaaks, Bevin Botha, Jivan Rube, Daniel Back.
Uganda: Mathew Egeru, Saidi Atibu, Pafula Zimbe, Jamil Nabwi, Charlie Uhuru, Andan Mulebi, Brunno Masimenta, Marvia Odong, Davis Kyewalabye, Jasper Ochen, Jude Kirya, Alfrd Bijik, Justin Kimono, Phillip Pariyo, Phillip Wokorach.
Online Reporter