A pile of cards dashed Namibia’s dream of winning its first ever World Cup match against Uruguay in Lyon.
The Welwitchias enjoyed a lead of 20 – 12 at half-time, but Mathieu Raynal often blew his whistle loudly and reached for the cards in his pocket and they ended up going down 36 – 26.
Tjiuee Uanivi, who held the Namibian’s captaincy reins in place of the suspended Johan Deysel, was sent off with yellow cards along with Johan Coetzee and Desiderius Sethie.
It was later decided that Sethie’s dangerous tackle warranted a red card.
It was the Namibians’ 26th defeat in a row in its seven World Cup tournaments, but the team tried bravely against the South Americans.
Coach Allister Coetzee also had to do without the services of a bunch of players. In addition to Deysel, Johan Retief also missed the game after being bitten by a spider.
However, Tiaan Swanepoel scored 16 points with his kicking boot against Uruguay, while Gerswin Mouton advanced 101 meters with the ball in hand.
But if they could only repeat the heroics of the first half in the final 40 minutes of the clash, things might have looked very different.
- Scorers:
Uruguay: Tries: Baltazar Amaya (2), German Kessler, Santiago Arata and Bautiste Basso. Goal kicks: Felipe Etcheverry (3) and Felix Berchesi. Penalty kick: Berchesi.
Namibia: Tries: Gerswin Mouton and JC Greyling. Goal kicks: Tiaan Swanepoel (2). Penalty kicks: Swanepoel (2).
- Group A standings:
- France: 13 points after three games
- Italy: 10 points after two matches
- New Zealand: 5 points after two games
- Uruguay: 5 points after three games
- Namibia: no points after four matches
