Match report
I’ll leave you with Andy Bull’s match report from Toulouse. Thanks for joining me. Bye!
Time to mark your cards for this weekend. Saturday kicks off with Samoa v Chile (Pool D, 2pm) in Bordeaux, followed by Wales v Portugal (Pool C, 4.45pm) in Nice before Ireland v Tonga (Pool B, 8pm) meet in Nantes.
On Sunday, it’s South Africa v Romania (Pool B, 2pm) in Bordeaux followed by the game of the weekend, Australia v Fiji (Pool C, 4.45pm) in Saint-Étienne, and finally England v Japan (Pool D, 8pm) in Nice.
Cam Roigard talks to ITV: “The atmosphere here is outstanding, and our forwards set us up well.” He sends his thoughts to Le Roux Malan, who suffered a suspected broken leg in the first half, and says Namibia played with “passion and heart”. He enjoyed linking up with McKenzie, a similar style of player, and describes his World Cup debut as “absolutely surreal”.
Cam Roigard was awarded man of the match –I’m surprised it wasn’t given to McKenzie, who scored two tries, kicked 16 extra points and was pretty much everywhere.
Full time! New Zealand 71-3 Namibia
One last foray downfield for Namibia comes to nothing, and the whistle blows. No surprises with the final scoreline, and plenty of positives, but Ethan de Groot’s late red card is a blemish.
Red card for Ethan de Groot!
As seemed entirely feasible at the time, De Groot’s yellow card for his tackle on Booysen is upgraded to a red.
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TRY! New Zealand 69-3 Namibia (Ioane 67')
Try No 11 for the All Blacks, created by Fainga’anuku and finished by Ioane, who outpaces the last man and canters in under the posts. McKenzie converts to make it 8 from 11.
75 mins: Alas, it’s not to be – a handling error from scrum-half Stevens allows New Zealand to turn it over. It’s kicked downfield and Sam Whitelock, matching Richie McCaw’s record with his 148th cap tonight, leads the charge upfield.
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74 mins: Tu’ungafasi comes back for the defensive scrum, with Luke Jacobson coming off. Namibia have the put-in, five metres out.
73 mins: Rieko Ioane comes on for Lienert-Brown, with New Zealand down to 14 men, temporarily for now. Namibia almost force their way over the line after a mistake from McKenzie, as Haitembu Shifuka comes on for the injured Booysen.
Yellow card for De Groot! Ethan de Groot with a poor challenge on Booysen, his shoulder connecting with the replacement’s head. He is sent to the sin-bin, and it could be more with a review ongoing.
71 mins: Namibia are still trying, still being aggressive, and Swanepoel’s grubber kick sends McKenzie running back to cover.
67 mins: Aaron Smith is on for New Zealand, replacing Roigard. That feels almost unethical at this point. For Namibia, Max Katjijeko and Adriaan Booysen enters the fray.
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TRY! New Zealand 64-3 Namibia (Clarke 66')
Richie Mo’unga makes his mark on the game, spying the oceans of space on the Namibia left and kicking through the gap. McKenzie and Clarke are both in range but it bounces for the latter, who gets the ball down under pressure from Loubser. McKenzie converts.
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65 mins: Tupo Vaa’i is on for Savea, and does well to strip the ball away from Greyling – drawing boos from the now heavily pro-Namibia crowd.
64 mins: They win the lineout and assemble an all-hands-to-the-pump, 12-man maul – but as Johan Deysel gets in sight of the line, the ball spills loose, and New Zealand clear! Uanivi looked offside anyway, but that’s still a painful missed chance.
63 mins: Namibia win the lineout and get a penalty. Rossouw eventually passes forward but they return for the advantage …
61 mins: As Richie Mo’unga replaces Beauden Barrett – with McKenzie switching to full-back – Namibia have a penalty and kick to touch, drawing big cheers from the crowd.
TRY! New Zealand 57-3 Namibia (Havili 58')
Scott Barrett plays his part, winning the lineout and setting up another charge downfield. Roigard waits patiently, then offloads to Havili, who bounds over for a deserved try. McKenzie adds the extras.
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56 mins: Plenty of effort still from the Namibian pack, with Uanivi stopping McKenzie in his tracks with a perfectly executed tackle. Scott Barrett replaces Retalick for the All Blacks.
TRY! New Zealand 50-3 Namibia (Papali'i 54')
Effortless class from the All Blacks, as Savea makes a big carry, Barrett skips past a tackle and finds Fainga’anuku on the outside. As they close on the 10m line, the ball is worked back inside for Dalton Papali’i to coast over the line, and McKenzie converts.
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53 mins: The stats are starting to stack up – New Zealand have made 14 line breaks to Namibia’s one. They’ve also carried 501m, to their opponents’ 92m.
50 mins: Three changes for Namibia: Conradie, Van Jaarsveld and Benade are off, replaced by Van der Westhuizen, Sethie and Van Lill. For New Zealand, Dane Coles replaces Samisoni Taukei’aho.
TRY! New Zealand 43-3 Namibia (De Groot 48')
Seconds after coming on, De Groot adds the finishing touch to a pulverising drive for the line. Try No 7, but no conversion this time.
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47 mins: The first changes for New Zealand are in the front row. Fletcher Newell and Ethan de Groot come on, with Nepo Laulala and Ofa Tuungafasi going off.
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45 mins: New Zealand with another burst of attacking swagger, but Clarke’s efforts to scoop up the ball by the right touchline send him off-balance, just a metre or two from the line.
43 mins: Oh dear – the kick for touch actually goes backwards, and from the lineout, an attempted sneak pass to Swanepoel ends up in a knock-on. New Zealand scrum.
42 mins: This time they hold on at the lineout and while there aren’t any gaps in the wall ahead, Richard Hardwick forces an error. Penalty, and Swanepoel is going for the corner …
Here we go again
A promising start for Namibia, as an early penalty is kicked to the corner …
Tackle our quiz of the week here:
While Jamie Redknapp asks “are you still using your hands to put your shoes on?” in the ad break, I’ll leave with some half-time reading from Rob Kitson.
Half time: New Zealand 38-3 Namibia
McKenzie adds the conversion, improving his record to four from six. That was a ruthless half from the All Blacks, punishing every mistake from the underdogs as they ran in six tries. Sadly, the lingering memory is the leg injury suffered by Namibia’s Le Roux Malan – we wish him well.
TRY! New Zealand 36-3 Namibia (McKenzie 38')
Safe to say the All Blacks are not messing around, least of all Damian McKenzie. The fly-half scores his second try, charging onto Roigard’s clever spinning offload and diving over the line, mullet billowing in the breeze.
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TRY! New Zealand 31-3 Namibia (Lienert-Brown 36')
A bit of magic from Anton Lienert-Brown here. The centre collects a bouncing pass from McKenzie, kicks through and gets to it first, and flicks it past the last defender. The ball obediently slows up a metre over the line, and Lienert-Brown can jog through and dot down. McKenzie adds the conversion, and the lead grows.
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33 mins: It takes seconds for New Zealand to go from a defensive lineout to almost scoring again. McKenzie swings the ball to the left, Barrett kicks through – and it bounces just beyond Cam Roigard, chasing a first-half hat-trick.
32 mins: The conditions are helping the underdogs, able to dislodge the ball with hefty tackles on a couple of occasions. Once again, though, they lose the ball from their own lineout …
30 mins: Indiscipline costs New Zealand at the next scrum, and Namibia are able to clear downfield. Lineout for the All Blacks, pretty much on the halfway line …
28 mins: The lineout goes awry, and New Zealand get the put-in at the scrum. A cute diagonal kick is snapped up by Caleb Clarke, who is hauled down with acres of space ahead. McKenzie then kicks through, and Namibia’s Loubser does well to slide in and ground the ball before the cavalry arrives.
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26 mins: New Zealand have the bonus-point wrapped up already – but Namibia have another chance to get on the board, with a lineout inside the All Black 22 …
TRY! New Zealand 24-3 Namibia (Fainga'anuku 23')
Namibia are penalised at the breakdown on something of a technicality, and after Barrett kicks to touch, they win the lineout. The ball is shifted to Fainga’anuku, who simply smashes through the first tackle, then drags three players over the line with him. McKenzie’s conversion, hit through driving rain, clanks into the far post.
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TRY! New Zealand 19-3 Namibia (McKenzie 20')
It doesn’t take long for the All Blacks to resume normal service, with No 6 Luke Jacobson powering down the left flank. When the ball is worked backwards, it’s McKenzie who bursts through a gap to score his first World Cup try.
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18 mins: Every player out there is probably in two minds about playing on, but play on they must, and we restart with a scrum.
17 mins: Sad to report that Namibia’s Le Roux Malan has suffered a pretty horrific leg injury. The reaction from both sets of players said it all. The centre is applauded heartily as he is taken away on the medical cart, and offers a hand of appreciation. He’s replaced by JC Greyling.
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After that 5m scrum, I wonder if Namibia's handling may be a bit tighter than before? That was brutal @niallmcveigh.
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) September 15, 2023
Can I also say how spectacularly bad some of the All Blacks' haircuts are? David Havili and Damian McKenzie's are right up there. The 80s want their barnets back.
Indeed Guy – there are some shockers among the Australia line-up last week too. Mullets appear to be emphatically back at this World Cup.
16 mins: New Zealand have the lineout, claimed by Brodie Retallick to set up a rolling maul – and Taukei’aho goes over for a third try! But wait – the TMO reviews the lineout, and finds that two All Blacks turned to block off their opponents. The try is ruled out.
13 mins: Namibia’s Tjiuee Uanivi is penalised for going off his feet, and Barrett kicks to touch. Namibia are defending very narrowly, and once the ball is swept wide to Caleb Clarke, a third try looks a certainty. The defence holds firm, however, and almost turns the ball over before a knock-on.
New Zealand 12-3 Namibia (Swanepoel penalty) Over it goes, and the underdogs are on the board, much to the crowd’s delight.
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9 mins: Rain is falling now, which might slow down some of the All Blacks’ lightning-fast attacking play so far. Might. Namibia do pick up another penalty, 40m out, and this time Swanepoel will kick for goal.
TRY! New Zealand 12-0 Namibia (Roigard 7')
Well, this is ominous. It’s a Namibia put-in but New Zealand simply dismantle the scrum and the ball is flipped back to Roigard, who dummies, spins and dives over the line. McKenzie misses the conversion from wide right.
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6 mins: But that ambition is ruthlessly punished as New Zealand turn the ball over and break at pace, Barrett kicking through and McKenzie accelerating to plant his hand on the ball … but he was a few inches short of the line.
5 mins: Namibia are unbowed by that early setback – after all, New Zealand scored within two minutes against France. They get a penalty deep in All Black territory and Tiaan Swanepoel kicks for the corner, much to the crowd’s delight …
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TRY! New Zealand 7-0 Namibia (Roigard 2’)
That didn’t take long – Barrett’s crossfield kick is collected by Leicester Fainga’anuku, who trades passes with David Havili and offloads for scrum-half Cam Roigard to jog in under the posts. Damian McKenzie converts.
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Let's do this
The referee, Luke Pearce, blows his whistle – slightly before the crowd finish their countdown – and Beauden Barrett hoofs the ball high into the night sky.
Both sides line up for the anthems – Namibia in all-white, with an orange and blue trim. New Zealand are in all black, naturally. If the underdogs weren’t feeling intimidated enough, they then have to face a ferocious haka.
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Around 15 minutes until kick-off in Toulouse, where the stands look pretty close to full. The All Blacks are chasing their 50th World Cup win tonight – they would be the first team to reach that particular milestone.
Last night, France were pushed hard by Uruguay deep into the second half before scrambling over the finish line – a sign that no game is a foregone conclusion.
Get up to speed on the second weekend of the Rugby World Cup with Luke McLaughlin’s handy guide:
If you don’t much about Namibia – the nation or its rugby team – this video by Squidge Rugby offers an excellent guide.
The teams
New Zealand Beauden Barrett, Caleb Clarke, Anton Lienert-Brown, David Havili, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Damian McKenzie, Cam Roigard; Ofa Tuungafasi, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Nepo Laulala, Brodie Retallick, Samuel Whitelock, Luke Jacobson, Dalton Papali’i, Ardie Savea (c).
Replacements: Dane Coles, Ethan de Groot, Fletcher Newell, Scott Barrett, Tupou Vaa’i, Aaron Smith, Richie Mo’unga, Rieko Ioane.
Namibia Cliven Loubser, Gerswin Mouton, Johan Deysel (c), Le Roux Malan, Divan Rossouw, Tiaan Swanepoel, Damian Stevens; Jason Benade, Torsten Van Jaarsveld, Johan Coetzee, Johan Retief, Tjiuee Uanivi, Wian Conradie, Prince Gaoseb, Richard Hardwick.
Replacements: Louis van der Westhuizen, Desiderius Sethie, Haitembu Shifuka, PJ Van Lill, Adriaan Booysen, Max Katjijeko, Jacques Theron, JC Greyling.
Preamble
New Zealand and Namibia both lost their opening Pool A games, but that’s pretty much where their similarities end. The opening-night defeat to France was the All Blacks’ first-ever loss in the pool stage, while tonight’s opponents are winless in six World Cups.
The two nations met in the pool stages of the 2015 and 2019 tournaments, with New Zealand winning an entertaining encounter 58-14 at the London Stadium, then strolling to a 71-9 victory in Tokyo. Namibia’s opening 52-8 defeat to Italy does not raise much hope of a closer contest tonight in Toulouse.
Ian Foster has made nine changes from the defeat in Paris, giving fringe players an opportunity and looking for a react to that sluggish first performance a week ago. The result is not really in doubt – Namibia are 200-1 to win – but the underdogs will always play up to their nickname.
The Welwitschas get their name from a giant, alien-looking plant that can survive in the Namib desert for centuries. For this team of local amateurs and professionals scattered around the world’s minor leagues, just being here is the battle and never giving up is the goal.
