The Kenya 15s team posing for a team photo.PHOTO/KRU
NAIROBI, Kenya, July 16 – The national rugby 15s team fell 56-21 to champions Namibia in their second match of Africa Cup Division1A played in Windhoek on Saturday.
Namibia proved to be a hard nut to crack for the Kenya Simbas who only grounded only one converted try in the first half as the Jerome Paarwater charges found the going tough, just a week after walloping Zimbabwe 61-15 at their backyard in Harare.
The result meant Kenya’s chances of reclaiming the trophy were reduced with Namibia taking control of the standings with two wins after beating Uganda 40-31in Kampala.
It was a one way for Namibia in the first half where Kenya conceded six tries to see the hosts continue their dominance over Simbas who were seeking to revenge a 46-13 defeat they suffered last year at the same venue.
Kenya were unable to retrieve the ball from kick off as Namibia pushed over from the line out but the Simbas defence did good to hold up.
However, Namibia overpowered Kenya to force a scrum that led to the opener when the hosts turned over with a mauling try.
Kenya 15s lining up against champions Namibia in their second match of the 2016 Africa Cup Division 1A in Windhoek. PHOTO/courtesy.
Kenya were reduced to 14 men after Simon Muniafu was sent to the sin-bin and the hosts made good use of the opportunity to double the lead to see the visitors trail 14-0.
The Simbas found themselves on the wrong side of the referee once again when they were penalized for not rolling away at the ruck. Namibia opted for the line out just five meters from Kenya’s try line.
They (Namibia) managed to setup a maul off the line out and push over for their third try that was converted by Cootzee Tiaan.
Things went from bad to worse for Paarwater boys as the hosts added another try through Dino Wilson to take the scores at 28-0
Kenya lost the ball in their scrum to see Namibia capitalize on it to go over twice for another converted tries, taking the tally to 40-0.
The Simbas found their rhythm on the stroke of half time when Moses Amusala bumped off four Namibians as Kenya attempted to surge forward before it paid off with Adimo’s touchdown that was converted by Darwin Mukidza.
Both sides scored two tries apiece in the second half with Kenya getting theirs from Dan Sikuta and Joseph Kang’ethe.
Kenya will face Uganda in their next match on July 31 at Nairobi’s RFUEA Grounds.
