I find headlines like "went down fighting", "made a good account of themselves", lousy excuses for defeat and downright loser mentality. But in the case of the opening game of the Junior World Rugby Trophy, the Kenyan lads lost the game in the final minute of extra time! If that's not going down fighting, I don't know what is. That said, our boys didn't make a good account of themselves and should have put the game out of Namibia's hands on several occassions during the entire game. What's more disappointing was the poor ball handling displayed by the Under 20 team. This is a game our boys should've have won because right now the US looks like they are group favourites.
Namibia's relentless second half pressure paid dividends in the dying minutes when wing Nathan Ockhuizen chased down his chip and regathered to run under the posts to seal a 22-17 comeback victory over Kenya.
The hosts had seemed set to cause the first upset of the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy with Namibia having missed two penalties and been held up over the try line twice in quick succession as they trailed 17-15.
However Namibia's perseverance paid with Ockhuizen's score against the tiring Kenyans silencing the home crowd, who had greeted every tackle or attack by their team with huge cheers from the outset at the RFUEA Grounds.
Kenya had been the side to watch in the first half, their chip and chase philosophy keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats and producing two memorable tries from wing Collins Omae and flanker Joel Omer.
Only two points separated the sides at half time with Namibia's points all coming from fly half Mahco Prinsloo in the form of a penalty and a converted try, before Kenya stretched that advantage when Omae scored within minutes of the restart.
Russel van Wyk responded with a try just before the hour mark, but Prinsloo's missed conversion still meant Namibia trailed 17-10. Captain Robert Herridge and Prinsloo both missed contrasting penalties, but Namibia kept up the pressure and ultimately earned their reward.
The hosts had seemed set to cause the first upset of the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy with Namibia having missed two penalties and been held up over the try line twice in quick succession as they trailed 17-15.
However Namibia's perseverance paid with Ockhuizen's score against the tiring Kenyans silencing the home crowd, who had greeted every tackle or attack by their team with huge cheers from the outset at the RFUEA Grounds.
Kenya had been the side to watch in the first half, their chip and chase philosophy keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats and producing two memorable tries from wing Collins Omae and flanker Joel Omer.
Only two points separated the sides at half time with Namibia's points all coming from fly half Mahco Prinsloo in the form of a penalty and a converted try, before Kenya stretched that advantage when Omae scored within minutes of the restart.
Russel van Wyk responded with a try just before the hour mark, but Prinsloo's missed conversion still meant Namibia trailed 17-10. Captain Robert Herridge and Prinsloo both missed contrasting penalties, but Namibia kept up the pressure and ultimately earned their reward.
Other Scores
Group A
USA 64 - Cayman Islands 15
Group B
Romania 50 - Papua New Guinea 15
Chile 49 - South Korea 21
Report compiled by Mojo Sojo and IRB.COM. Pictures courtesy of IRB.COM
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