Africa Gold Cup
- Namibia 45-7 Kenya
- Zimbabwe 23-31 Tunisia
Even before the campaign kicked off in June, Namibia were odds-high favourites to clinch the Africa Gold Cup.
And after completing their games with a comprehensive 45-7 win over closest challengers Kenya, Namibia are officially the Kings of African rugby.
Namibia went into the final game needing to just avoid defeat to win the championship and they successfully defended their title with a classy display against the Simbas in Windhoek Saturday evening.
The 2015 African representatives at the World Cup crossed the white wash on seven occasions with the first two tries coming inside the first ten minutes.
By bagging five points from the game, Namibia ended the campaign with maximum points collected from all the games played.
David Philander, Chrysander Botha, Cliven Loubser, JC Greyling, Casper Viviers and Lesley Klim all touched down to help the Welwitschia win the 2017 cup with 25 points, 9 ahead of the Simbas.
Kenya started the game with psyche and Joshua Chisanga providing the first big hit of the game. The early pressure bore no fruits though as Jerome Paarwater’s charges were held scoreless throughout the first 40 minutes.
The East African only got onto the scoreboard when Moses Amusala scored the only try in the second half. Darwin Mukidza added the extras for Kenya’s only points on the day.
Namibia’s run saw them beat Uganda, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Tunisia and Kenya as the Simbas drew with Uganda and beat Tunisia, Senegal and Zimbabwe.
In the other game played on Saturday, Tunisia picked their first points of the campaign after a morale boosting 31-23 win over Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.
Pointless before kickoff, Tunisia relied on the returning senior players to brush Zimbabwe aside and brighten their chances of surviving relegation.
The Africa Gold Cup concludes on August 5 when Uganda host Zimbabwe and Senegal travel to Tunisia.
The winner in the Tunisia vs. Senegal game will survive the drop and take part in next year’s World Cup qualifiers.