Rugby World Cup: Italy sweeps Namibia

We will have to wait a little longer to see Namibia’s first victory in a Rugby World Cup. For his 23^e match in a World Cup, Saturday September 9 in Saint-Etienne, the Welwitschias suffered a stinging 23^e defeat in a row, this time against Italy (52 to 8).

However, the Namibians had started their afternoon in Saint-Etienne well, scoring the first points of the game. But things quickly became complicated for them: their hooker was sanctioned from the 10^e minute of a yellow card for a foul on an Italian carried ball which was heading towards the goal. All powerful, Lorenzo Cannone immediately took advantage of the opportunity to score the first try of the game. A handful of minutes later, Paolo Garbisi, slipping through a gaping hole in the Namibian defense, scored the Azzurri’s second try under the poles, from the 15th^e minute.

The Namibians, however, did not come to watch their own match. After a very classic but very effective percussion phase near the Italian goal line, the Namibian opener fired a long pass to his winger Gerswin Mouton, who spun to flatten. As soon as he got back on his feet, all his teammates rushed to congratulate him as if they had won the match.

In the aftermath, the Namibians delivered a rather correct performance: at half-time, they had had more of the ball than the Italians and spent more time in the opposing camp. The Italians, rather disappointing, failed to take advantage of their clear physical superiority and the brittleness of the Namibian defense (20% missed tackles).

Namibia collapse in second half

Returning from the locker room, the Italians showed more power and determination. After they had assaulted the opposing line with their charges, the massive Italian second row Dino Lamb reached behind the line, for the first try for this newcomer to the Italian team, born in England and capped in the past with the young people of the XV de la Rose.

When the hour came, the difference in level between the Italian selection and their opponents burst into the open. Taking advantage of blunt Namibians, the Italians were able to accelerate. After an offensive launched from his own camp, Ange Capuozzo took long strides towards the try. A one-two with one of his partners and the Italian trained in Grenoble acrobatically dove into the goal, allowing his team to make a definitive difference and recover a precious offensive bonus point.

At the end of the match, the Namibians attempted a final rebuff, settling into the Italian camp and notably developing a carried ball which mobilized almost all the players on the team. Without success.

Then came the deluge in the Namibian camp. Exhausted, the African players could do nothing to prevent Hame Faiva (74^e), Manuel Zuliani (78^e) and finally Paolo Odogwu (82^e) to register their essay. The Italians, future opponents of the Blues, have successfully entered the competition, their main objective being to finish in third place in the group, synonymous with direct qualification for the next World Cup.

The rout of the day is hardly surprising for Namibia, whose team is, with Chile, the lowest ranked of the nations involved in the World Cup in the World Rugby rankings. The Namibians are for some of the amateur players. “Some had to change jobs because they couldn’t get a month’s leave from their employer” to participate in the World Cup in France, their coach, Alister Coetzee, revealed during the week. Only three players play in major championships (against the entire Italian team). We even saw the entry onto the field of Casper Viviers, a pillar playing in Fédérale 3, the seventh French division.

After the match, the Namibian coach returned to the difference between his team and the best nations. “ We responded for fifty minutes, but against a team of the world elite there is always a stake in conquest. They were superior in the mauls, in the scrum. They are also superior in terms of physical condition. Italy plays more than ten games per season, we are lucky if we play eight of them over a four-year period.commented Alister Coetzee.

The match, pleasant, in any case delighted the Saint-Etienne public. Even if the “cauldron” of Geoffroy-Guichard was not quite full, the more than 35,000 spectators multiplied the olas and the songs, in particular a Marseillaise. The home World Cup has indeed started, and not just at the Stade de France.