29 April 2008
Windhoek — Namibia beat Korea 36-29 to finish fifth at the IRB Junior Rugby Trophy tournament in Chile on Saturday.
After a few minutes of frantic action, Korea scored the first try through left wing Kim Gwong Min. The Korean score acted as a wake-up call for the Namibians and flanker Murray Hugo burst through for Namibia's opening try.
For most of the first half played at a frantic pace, the scores followed a similar pattern, with the Koreans making a break only for Namibia to bounce back from the abyss. The second Korean try was scored in a similar fashion by their influential number 8 Kim Hyun Soo, only for Namibia's omnipresent scrum half Ashley Tjombe to reply, a try converted by Shawn Kaizemi.
The intensity of the first half an hour left the Korean forwards out of breath and the Namibians promptly capitalised by scoring a fine individual try through their fullback Robert Herridge, duly converted by Kaizemi.
After half-time, Namibia dynamised by a passionate halftime plea from coach Eden Meyer, sprang into action. Dynamic hooker Theo Coetzee and Herridge with his second touched down early in the second half and it looked as if their side had the measure of their opponents. But obviously they misjudged the mood of the Koreans who rallied around their captain Lee Chang Suk and responded in style with a try through their lock forward Mun Ho Jun, converted by right wing In Seo In Soo. The match maintained the furious pace at the start of the second half when Kaizemi cut through a strangely lethargic Korean defence to score Namibia fifth try.
But Korea bounced back with two quick tries by the enormously powerful loose head Shin Young Jin and the remarkably assertive number 8 Kim Hyun Soo brought Korea back within a converted try.
For the following 15 minutes the Koreans camped into the Namibian 22, but a combination of gallant Namibian defence and unforced errors in attack doomed their better efforts. On one occasion it looked as if they had scored a try when their scrum-half Park Sung Jun dived over from a ruck near the line, but Romanian referee Horatiu Bargaunas disallowed it for an earlier offence.
It was a match Korea could and should have won, having improved from their shaky debut against Uruguay two weeks ago in every area of the game. Namibia, on the other hand, confirmed their rising status in the game and, with many of their squad still available next year, they will be a difficult side to beat in the next Junior World Rugby Trophy.
Chile won the Junior Rugby Trophy after beating Romania 14-3 in the final.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Namibian. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
