Zimbabwe fall in Namibia

side eventually winning by only four points.
Had Zimbabwe’s goal-kicking been better, they could well have won the match.
And credit must go to the under-funded Zimbabwean Sables for their brave performance despite having to share socks and buy their own tights for this match.
Namibia scored four tries, four penalties, one drop goal and one conversion, while Zimbabwe scored four tries, one conversion, two penalties and one penalty try.
After two penalties by Theuns Kotze and one by Tichafara Makwanya, Namibian flanker Renaud van Neel scored the first try after he went over from a fine driving maul by the Namibian forwards.
Namibia stretched their lead to 16-3 after Chrysander Botha touched down in the corner, after being put in space from a fine skip pass by Theuns Kotze.
Botha continued to threaten with a great run that and kick ahead but Zimbabwe wing Wesley Mbanje just managed to dot down ahead of Justin Nel.
Zimbabwean flyhalf Makwanya scored the visitors’ first try when he broke through a tackle and ran 30m to dot down, but he missed a simple conversion, to make the score 16-8.
Just before half-time Zimbabwe got a penalty try after a scrum infringement on Namibia’s tryline and with Makhanya adding the conversion, Namibia held a narrow 16-15 lead going into the break.
Namibia attacked from the restart and debutant winger Johan Tromp went over for a try in the corner after being put clear by Darryl de la Harpe. Kotze’s fine conversion from the touchline put Namibia 23-15 ahead.
Makwanya and Kotze traded penalties and then Namibian prop Johnny Redelinghuys went over in the corner after a fine attack involving Darryl de la Harpe and Tromp.
Namibia’s forwards maintained the pressure and when Kotze added a fine drop goal to make it 34-18 it seemed as if Namibia would easily win the match.
But lapses in concentration allowed Zimbabwe back into the match, as two unconverted tries in quick succession by fullback Tangai Nemadire and flanker Lucky Sithole made the score 34-28. Theuns Kotze added a penalty but Nemadire scored his second try after a pass by Wesley Mbanje to make the final score 37-33.
The match started with both teams battling to contain nerves and constantly making some schoolboy blunders in their forward pack but it (the game) later saw the Welwitschias dominate the two halves with the Zimbabweans playing catch up.
The Welwitschias scored 20 points from the try-line while Kotze maintained an almost 90% kicking record pushing the Zimbabweans to the edges in the beginning of both halves.
However, the Namibians constantly suffered from inexperience and conceded points towards the end of both halves and almost sent jitters to the jubilant crowd at the last minute when Zimbabwe missed a penalty kick that could have sealed a surprise draw.
Commenting on his team’s performance, Namibia coach, Danie Vermeulen, said he was by and large impressed with the side’s performance adding that, “We consider ourselves lucky to have come out victorious because the Zimbabweans kept coming back. The lapses in concentration could have cost us as you know this is a young squad. We would also want to thank the Zimbabweans for the good spirit in which the game was played in.”
Zimbabwe coach, Cyprian Mandenga, said the Sables conceded unnecessary handling mistakes which could have been avoided adding.
“We are going to work on out-strengths on the forthcoming match with Spain. Namibia capitalised on those and they won the game.”
Mandege also said that Zimbabwe’s schoolboy errors with the passing conceded way too many penalties and gave away easy points.
Although the Welwitchais started slowly taking their first points of the match through a penalty inside Zimbabwe’s 22-metre line they also consolidated their position by taking advantage of the poor Zimbabwe scrum and constant knock-ons.
At one point pressure mounted for the Zimbabweans resulting in a reckless tackle by Biselele Tshamala which earned him a yellow card in an otherwise very competitive and nail-biting match. The next game of the round-robin tournament will be played on Wednesday between Zimbabwe and Spain while Namibia  will face Spain on Saturday. — iNamibia-Sports Correspondent.