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A last-gasp try gave Namibia a 43-37 victory over Canada at NRCA Stadium in Amsterdam on Saturday. It’s the first-ever victory for the Welwitschias over the Maple Leafs, and it comes three years after the two sides were meant to square off during the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
The men in red opened the scoring with a penalty goal from Cooper Coats just two minutes in. A response came soon after when Adriaan Ludick charged down a Jason Higgins box kick attempt. The ball was recycled until the big man himself barreled over from close range for the try.
A sniping run from Coats put the Canadians back on the front foot, and yielded an attacking lineout. The Welwitschias couldn’t stop the drive as Andrew Quattrin got credit for the score.
The Maple Leafs would cross again after a poor throw-in from Namibia. Quattrin smashed up the middle and then Corey Thomas busted through three would-be tacklers to make the line, with the extras from Coats making it 17-7 after 20 minutes.
After a short water break, Namibia found their way to the corner with Warren Ludwig on the end of shovel pass on the short side from TC Kisting. Again the lineout faltered, however, while Canada’s accurate set piece was rewarded. Their driving maul was stopped but Thomas was there to roll over from close range for a his second try of the day.
The Namibians sprung to life with just a couple minutes left in the half. Louis van der Westhuizen finally found his target in Ludick, and the hooker would then grab points for himself when the maul went over.
Moments later a high ball from Kisting was lost in the sun by Josiah Morra, and the ball was spun wide from Le Roux Malan to Darryl Wellman. The debutant offloaded to Johan Deysel and the captain went over the in corner to make it 24-all at halftime.
The first score of the second half went to the Canadians. From an attacking lineout the drive went on and Quattrin broke off the back to dive over for a double. They would press for another try soon after, but a turnover from Wian Conradie saved the Welwitschias from further punishment.
Near the hour mark Namibia were nearly over but PJ van Lill was held up. They would get the score they wanted shortly after the drop-out. The Canadians looked to have the ground covered but Andre van der Berg somehow slipped through on a 30-meter solo run, though the conversion attempt from Kisting – now playing flyhalf – was off the mark.
Coats nudged Canada further ahead with a penalty goal after a cross-kick attempt from Robbie Povey couldn’t quite connect with Brock Webster. Namibia fired back with interest. Repeat team infringements landed Josh Larsen in the bin, and van der Westhuizen grabbed his own brace at the bottom of a lineout drive. The extras from Kisting put Namibia in the lead for the first time.
With time winding down Coats landed his seventh successful kick of the day to give Canada a precarious one-point lead. Namibia would win a kickable penalty with just seconds left on the clock, but bizarrely opted for a kick to the corner. The decision paid off. While the lineout drive was stopped, Kisting was waiting and he broke free of two defenders to score the winning try. His kick was academic but found its mark to end the scoring.
That completes the end-of-year tours for both sides. Namibia will now start preparations for Rugby World Cup 2023 in earnest, with a few reinforcements expected for the tournament in France. Canada finish the year with two wins from four tests and won’t reconvene again until after the domestic season.
SCORING
CANADA 37
Tries – A. Quattrin 2 (10′, 49′), C. Thomas 2 (18′, 28′)
Cons – C. Coats 4/4 (11′ 19′, 29′, 50′)
Pens – C. Coats 3/3 (2′, 66′, 77′)
YC – J. Larsen (71′)
NAMIBIA 43
Tries – A. Ludick (7′), W. Ludwig (22′), L. van der Westhuizen 2 (37′, 72′), J. Deysel (39′), A. van der Berg (63′), Kisting (80’+1′)
Cons – C. Loubser 2/4 (8′, 38′), T. Kisting 2/3 (73′, 80’+2)
TEAMS
CANADA
1 Djustice Sears-Duru, 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Lindsey Stevens 68′), 3 Tyler Rowland (18 Kyle Steeves 68′), 4 Conor Keys, 5 Josh Larsen, 6 Corey Thomas (19 Piers von Dadelszen 62′), 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.) (20 Owain Ruttan 78′), 8 Siaki Vikilani, 9 Jason Higgins (21 Ross Braude 59′), 10 Robbie Povey, 11 Josiah Morra (23 Brock Webster 52′), 12 Josh Thiel, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Andrew Coe (22 David Richard 66′), 15 Cooper Coats
Not used: 17 Foster DeWitt
NAMIBIA
1 Jason Benade, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 3 Casper Viviers (17 Jano Otto 52′), 4 Adriaan Ludick (20 PJ van Lill 52′), 5 Max Katjijeko, 6 Wian Conradie (22 Richard Hardwick 61′), 7 Johan Retief, 8 Prince Gaoseb (19 Adriaan Booysen 61′), 9 TC Kisting, 10 Cliven Loubser (21 Damian Stevens 56′), 11 Darryl Wellman, 12 Le Roux Malan, 13 Johan Deysel (capt.), 14 Warren Ludwig, 15 André van der Berg
Not used: 16 Wicus Jacobs, 18 Chemigan Beukes, 23 PW Steenkamp
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Jordan Way (Australia)
