Azzurri onslaught leaves Namibia shell-shocked

With much criticism going around on social media from both supporters and casual fans, the Namibian rugby training squad and coaching staff obviously have a lot to improve on ahead of their final selection and departure to Uganda this coming Sunday.The Italian national rugby team recorded their biggest test win yet against Namibia (73-6) at the Hage Geingob Stadium on Friday afternoon – a result that has made supporters rather nervous ahead of the all-important 2025 Rugby Africa Cup / 2027 Rugby World Cup continental qualifier which kicks off in Uganda’s capital Kampala on 8 July.Namibia’s first home test match against a Tier One rugby nation since Italy’s previous visit in 2001 was a momentous occasion, although it ruthlessly pointed out the margin of difference in tempo between the full-time professionals and the home side, half of which play for amateur clubs.Italy’s powerful and skilled rolling maul technique created huge problems, while their backline’s use of dummy runners and clever running lines would have given technical analysts much food for thought.The Namibians were seldom allowed to get into much of a rhythm and by halftime (6-40) the result was already way beyond their reach.Conceding a penalty try less than four minutes after the kick-off already set the tone for the difficulty of the task ahead, as the Namibians collapsed the advancing Italian maul. Hooker Louis van der Westhuizen was simultaneously yellow-carded, while Italy had their experienced tighthead Marco Riccione stretchered off and replaced after his teammates collapsed on top of him.Two penalties by Namibian flyhalf Tiaan Swanepoel briefly raised the hopes of a significant fightback, but the tourists racked up the next five tries without reply before the halftime whistle could bring some sense of relief.Italy’s young fullback Jacopo Trullo (19th minute), centre Leonardo Marin (22 minutes), left wing Simone Gesi (31 minutes), centre Tomasso Menoncello (38 minutes) and Trullo again (41 minutes) raced through for tries, exposing the lack of cohesion in the Namibian defensive structure.In the second half, more five-pointers were added by scrumhalf Alessandro Fusco (44 minutes), replacement prop Mirco Spagnolo (63 minutes), replacement scrumhalf Stephen Varney (70 minutes), Trullo’s hat-trick try (74 minutes) and another penalty try just before the final whistle. Conversions came from fly-half Giacomo Da Re (6) and Varney (1).On the Namibian side, the tireless work rate of lock Johan Retief was one of the few positive aspects.“Well done to Italy; I thought they were a great outfit today. We’ll go back to the drawing board next week and see what we can fix. If you don’t have set pieces, you don’t have a platform to play,” Namibia captain Prince !Gaoseb said afterwards.“We need to keep our confidence, keep the team together and work on what’s next, which is the Rugby Africa Cup.“It is always a huge honour representing our country. We’ll have only one goal, which is to win back the Africa Cup and to make the nation proud. We need to stay positive, just work on what we need to work on. I’m pretty confident we're going to have a good Africa Cup.”Namibia’s fixtures in Kampala will be against Senegal (8 July) and then the winner of Algeria vs Cote d’Ivoire five days later. The final on 18 July will also feature the winner of semi-final one, after the opening days’ winners Zimbabwe vs Morocco / Kenya vs Uganda are determined.

Azzurri onslaught leaves Namibia shell-shocked

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Azzurri onslaught leaves Namibia shell-shocked

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