Zambia show the way in 75-5 romp

ANDREW POOLMAN – The rebirth of 15-a-side women’s rugby in Namibia came with a real struggle on Saturday, as Zambia racked up a 75-5 win over Namibia at the Hage Geingob Stadium (halftime 36-5).The Zambian women’s side confirmed their higher world ranking position (32nd, against Namibia at 52nd) in convincing fashion.The Zambians clearly dominated every facet of play. They were much fitter and better conditioned – unlike the Namibians, who could already be seen walking during the first half. The result was 13 tries to the Zambians against the only Namibian reply – an opportunistic try by flyhalf Alicia Gertze.The difference in skill level, organisation and composure also provided the kind of fluency in attack and defence that the Namibian women would be aspiring to in future. Instead, the inexperienced home side – playing the country’s first 15-a-side women’s test match since a 2013 win over Botswana – already appeared shell-shocked after Zambia’s first three tries after five, ten and 12 minutes respectively.Namibia’s lack of a kicking game for field position, or as a means of exiting their own half, also kept them under pressure and contributed to the huge scoreline. Instead, they preferred to take tapped penalties and keep the ball in hand – possibly influenced by the sevens and 10-a-side game which the women are more accustomed to.The yellow card to fullback Fiola Vliete for a high tackle after 18 minutes also gave Zambia the advantage of playing against 14 players for ten minutes.Namibia prop Faizal-Lee Tjivava left the field on a stretcher before halftime, after putting in one of the better individual performances by any of the local players. Feedback yesterday was that none of the injuries on the Namibian side is considered too serious.Newly appointed women’s coach Christel (CJ) Kotzé said: “It was not an easy day at the office, but the girls did show courage in defence. It was a hard game and Zambia dominated up front, where we were lacking a bit.“It was not all negative and we will definitely build on this eye-opening experience, going forward. A bit more effort can go a long way and I believe that if we give the girls some time to develop, we could invite Zambia for a much more competitive rematch.”More opportunities look set to come the way of the local women’s game, with Rugby Africa indicating plans for a continental women’s cup competition in some format next year.

Zambia show the way in 75-5 romp

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Republikein 2025-05-23

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Zambia show the way in 75-5 romp

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