New Zealand massacres Namibia to claim first World Cup victory
New Zealand won their first victory at the 2023 World Cup on Friday evening by beating Namibia by 11 tries at the Toulouse Stadium.
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Cam Roigard scored twice in seven minutes, suggesting the world’s fourth-largest team had massacre in mind. But the Namibians settled and New Zealand conceded a penalty.
Tiaan Swanepoel converted to put his team on the board and make it 12-3.
Namibia then suffered a major blow when Le Roux Malan was injured. The center was transported in a medical buggy with a suspected fractured ankle to applause from both sets of players as well as the 32,000 fans in the stadium.
No sooner had he been removed from the fray than New Zealand were 12 points ahead thanks to two tries in three minutes from Damian McKenzie and Leicester Fainga’anuku.
Festival
Anton Lienert-Brown went old school. Collecting a pass from McKenzie on the right wing, he kicked the ball under a Namibian, ran and threw it over another towards the line. The touch seemed macabrely simple. And it was 29-3.
McKenzie added both points for the conversion before crossing the line himself for his second try and adding another conversion.
Paired with the pouring rain, it was a refreshingly retro look: All Blacks in full swing, pouring rain. Ethan de Groot scored the seventh try a few seconds after coming on in the second half and it was 43-3.
New Zealand continued their exhibition against a team 17 places below them in the rankings with scores from Dalton Papali’i, David Havili and Caleb Clarke.
And although the Namibians attempted to attack for the try, they either failed to break through the New Zealand defense or fumbled when well placed.
“I’m happy with the fact that our team is creating chances,” Namibian coach Allister Coetzee said after the 71-3 annihilation.
“I’m happy with it but we’re not converting them.
Experience
“Hopefully that will come as we learn from these games with top teams.”
Coetzee pointed out in the prelude to the match that Italy only got away from his side from the 73rd minute of their opening match at Saint-Etienne last Saturday.
At this time on Friday evening, New Zealand was in a galaxy far, far away.
And even though they were missing one of their imperious stormtroopers following De Groot’s red card for a high tackle on Adriaan Booysen, they still managed to prevent the Namibians from scoring a try and send in Rieko Ioane for the final goal .
Although New Zealand coach Ian Foster lamented De Groot’s sending off as frustrating, he welcomed the candidacy of players keen to make up for the opening day defeat to France.
“The job was well done,” Foster insisted. “We came in with a clear, clear idea of how we wanted to approach the game.
“We wanted to control the game from the start with our pack and I think our attackers did a good job and allowed us to play and look at opportunities.”
This concentration eradicated the element of suspense enough for the neutrals to yell in support of the Namibians every time they approached the New Zealand posts.
Coetzee and his team are unlikely to receive such encouragement when they take on hosts France at the Marseille Velodrome next Thursday.
New Zealand can effectively seal their qualification for the round of 16 with a victory against Italy on September 29 in Lyon.
And so the beasts continue their feast. “The last time Namibia played a country like the All Blacks was probably the last World Cup,” Coetzee said.
“Our players do not have the privilege of playing in other major international competitions.
“I hope that in the future, players will benefit from more games of this type, in which they can learn about the tempo of the game, the rhythm of the game and the types of collisions. They can’t do it every four years. They have to do it on an annual basis.”
euronews
