Advertisement
AS IT HAPPENED

As it happened: Wales v Namibia

As Wales took on Namibia in what proved to be a relatively one-sided encounter, we brought you minute-by-minute live coverage of the game.

Get in contact in the usual ways: email paul@thescore.ie, tweet us or find TheScore on Facebook.

Wales 81-7 Namibia

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Wales against Namibia.

Here are your teams:

WALES: Lee Byrne; Leigh Halfpenny; Jonathan Davies, Scott Williams; Aled Brew; Stephen Jones, Tavis Knoyle; Gethin Jenkins, Lloyd Burns, Craig Mitchell, Bradley Davies, Alun Wyn Jones, Ryan Jones, Sam Warburton (captain), Toby Faletau.

Replacements: Ken Owens, Ryan Bevington, Luke Charteris, Andy Powell, Lloyd Williams, Rhys Priestland, George North.

NAMIBIA: Chrysander Botha; Danie Van Wyk, Piet Van Zyl, Darryl De La Harpe, Danie Dames; Theuns Kotze, Eugene Jantjies; Johnnie Redelinghuys, Hugo Horn, Jané Du Toit, Heinz Koll, Nico Esterhuyse, Tinus Du Plessis, Jacques Burger (capt), Jacques Nieuwenhuis.

Replacements: Bertus O’Callaghan, Raoul Larson, Wacca Kazombiaze, Rohan Kitshoff, Ryan De La Harpe, TC Losper, David Philander.

It’s a fairly strong-looking Wales team, considering the opposition.

Okay, here’s a poll before the game starts. The question is: How many points will Wales win by roughly?


Poll Results:

Over 50 (23)
40-50 (8)
30-40 (4)
They'll lose (3)
0-10 (1)
10-20 (1)
20-30 (1)

I’m reliably informed that this Ryan Jones’ first-ever World Cup match. Incredible, for such an experienced and reputed player.

And we’re off…

WALES 3-0 NAMIBIA: Namibian scrum gives away a penalty and Stephen Jones comfortably kicks it over. So far, so predictable.

This time Wales are penalised in the scrum. Something for Namibia to build on perhaps?

TRY FOR WALES!!!

WALES 8-0 NAMIBIA: That was excellently taken. Leigh Halfpenny’s burst of pace enables him to break through the Namibian defence. He then passes it to Scott Williams, who darts through unchallenged for a try in the corner. Stephen Jones hits the post with the conversion.

Namibia launch a rare foray into the Welsh half, but it breaks down after a few passes and they concede possession once more.

TRY FOR WALES.

WALES 15-0 NAMIBIA: Bradley Davies bursts through a Namibian tackle and offloads to Aled Brew, who runs over for the simplest of tries. Jones gets an easy conversion.

TRY FOR WALES AGAIN.

WALES 22-0 NAMIBIA: Ryan Jones takes a penalty for Wales and passes it to Toby Faletau and the number 8 runs over to pile on the misery for Namibia. Jones gets the conversion.

You know Namibia are in trouble when the commentators start talking condescendingly about what a fantastic opportunity it is for them and that appearing at the Worlld Cup is “what dreams are made of”.

MISSED PENALTY: Theuns Kotze drags his kick to the right of the posts. You get the feeling Namibia won’t get many opportunities as good as that one.

Namibia have done well in the past few minutes, forcing an increasingly complacent-looking Wales team into making a few errors.

PENALTY FOR WALES!!!

Jones kicks into the corner following a high tackle from Nico Esterhuyse on Lee Byrne.

Namibia really do look like part-timers on occasion, as their decision-making often tends to be terrible – a recent chip kick well inside their own half being a prime example.

Warren Gatland will be disappointed that Wales have let the intensity drop after a strong opening from his side.

PENALTY FOR WALES. Namibia are caught offside and Wales opt for the scrum.

Namibia win a penalty as Craig Mitchell is penalised in the scrum. Namibia really are starting to show a bit of resilience. Warren Gatland, meanwhile, will not be at all happy with his increasingly error-prone team.

Useless fact of the day – If you were to base the score on the second half of the first half, it would still be still be 0-0.

MISSED PENALTY. Namibia’s captain Jacques Burger hits the post from far out. That’s unluckly – they really deserve something out of what has been a relatively fruitful period for the minnows.

HALF TIME: WALES 22-0 NAMIBIA

In summary, despite a very bright opening from Wales, Namibia have more than held their own in this contest. Without sounding too patronising about it, their recovery has been commendable and they have gone over 22 minutes without conceding a point. Is their increasingly impressive showing because Wales have been slack and overly cocksure? Probably, but Namibia can only play the team in front of them.

It’s not exactly a hair-raising performance from Wales, despite what this individual’s hairstyle may indicate.

The second half has begun.

Another mistake from Wales, as they’re penalised for crossing.

Almost one of the tries of the tournament there, as Wales practically run the entire length of the pitch with a series of intelligent passes, before a poor decision from Brew not to pass, with the try line at his mercy, costs them some more points.

TRY FOR WALES.

WALES 29-0 NAMIBIA. Bonus point for Wales, as Scott Williams runs over for his second try of the game on his first start for Wales. Jones gets the conversion.

WALES 36-0 NAMIBIA: Wonderful individual try for Gethin Jenkins, who astonishingly breaks through five tackles and bundles over the line. Jones makes no mistake with the conversion.

TRY FOR NAMIBIA! Yay!

WALES 36-7 NAMIBIA: Sorry to temporarily break my impartiality, but that was great to see. There was a suspicion of crossing, nonetheless a great dummy pass from Heinz Koll creates space, and he then sprints into the corner for an opportunistic try. Theuns Kotze even gets what is a difficult conversion far out and to the right of the posts. They deserved that.

Wales have now made a number of substitutions, including star players such as Warburton and Faletau making way for Andy Powell and Luke Charteris.

This has been a far from convincing display from Wales, who are going to have to up their game if they are to have any aspirations of progressing much further in this tournament. They have simply made far too many unforced errors.

TRY FOR WALES: WALES 43-7 NAMIBIA – The substitute George North exploits a gap in the Namibia defence with a lovely sidestep to add to Wales’ tally. Jones gets another simple conversion.

YET ANOTHER TRY FOR WALES.

WALES 50-7 NAMIBIA: A nice exchange of passes allows Jonathan Davies to dodge two tackles and sprint for 30 yards to score another try. Jones gets the conversion in front of the posts in what turns out to be his last act of the game. The floodgates are starting to open up.

TRY FOR WALES!

WALES 57-7 NAMIBIA: Excellent cross-field run and pass from Lee Byrne to George North, who finishes well. The substitute Priestland gets the conversion.

Namibia really do look like they’re running on empty now. Wales, meanwhile, have used all seven of their replacements – the most impressive of whom has been George North, who has already scored twice.

TRY FOR WALES.

WALES 64-7 NAMIBIA: Scott Williams scores his hat-trick after a series of nice off-loads. Priestland gets what is a more difficult conversion than usual (for this game anyway).

With less than ten minutes to go, Wales will be reasonably content with their performance. They have played some nice rugby over the course of the game, and crucially, have managed to avoid any injuries.

TRY FOR WALES!

From the five-metre scrum, Andy Powell passes to Lloyd Williams who dives over in the corner. For the second time in the game, Wales miss the conversion.

TRY FOR WALES (apologies if this sounds very repetitive).

WALES 74-7 NAMIBIA: Wales find themselves with four backs against one Namibia defender, and they duly score the try, with Halfpenny off-loading for Byrne to score. Priestland misses a difficult conversion.

TRY FOR WALES!

WALES 81-7 NAMIBIA: Alun Wyn Jones storms over the line, as the wary-looking Namibian defender grabs him ineffectually. Priestland gets the conversion and the referee blows the final whistle.

FULL TIME: WALES 81-7 NAMIBIA

Well that was all-too-predictable in the end. Wales let the tempo drop for a period in the first half, but took advantage of an increasingly exhausted-looking Namibian team. Wales will ultimately be satisfied with the game, while Namibia can at least take heart from the fact that they drew the second half of the first half.

Wales got 12 tries in all, including a hat-trick from Scott Williams and two from substitute George North.

In the mandatory post-match interview, Sam Warburton has praised Stephen Jones for breaking the Wales appearance record, calling him a “Welsh great”.

Warren Gatland has just admitted he gave Wales “a bit of a bollocking” at half time. ITV are forced to apologise for his language.

So it looks increasingly likely that Wales will play Ireland in the quarter-final. Should be a brilliant game, particularly as Wales invariably play such an attacking, attractive brand of rugby.

Right, that’s it from me. I’m off to give my fingers a well-deserved rest from constantly having to type the word ‘try’. Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to join us for our live coverage of Canada vs Japan and Italy against USA tomorrow.

Read: Simon Hick’s View from the Frontline: a case of try, try again>

Read: Buzzing Irish camp already focusing on Italy>