Namibia on fire
Namibia's under-20 rugby team are giving people hope that they can go all the way.
JESSE JACKSON KAURAISA
Namibia's under-20 rugby national team continued to impress after humiliating Hong Kong 84-10 at the World Rugby U-20 Trophy 2018 in Bucharest on Saturday.
The team have been making strides at the competition and are expected to thrill against Samoa on Wednesday.
The 11th edition of the competition kicked off last week Tuesday, with eight teams battling it out for the title.
In their first match, Namibia beat hosts Romania 55-26 with an excellent display of attacking rugby.
The winner of the u-20 trophy will be promoted to the World Rugby U-20 Championship in 2019, replacing Japan who was relegated after finishing bottom of the 2018 edition in France last weekend.
In other action, Uruguay scored with no time remaining to defeat Canada 27-23 at the World Rugby U-20 Trophy tournament Saturday.
It was the second straight painful loss for the Canadian men at the second-tier age-group competition. They squandered a 26-11 halftime lead Tuesday in their opening 31-29 loss to Portugal.
Will Percillier kicked three penalties and two conversions for Canada, which trailed 15-6 at the half.
Canada pulled back 10 points on a converted Jackson Matthews try and Percillier penalty and then went ahead 23-20 on a converted try by Peter Ingoldsby in the 69th minute. But Matias D'Avanzo broke a tackle and scored from close range in the 83rd minute to seal Canada's fate.
Canada will wrap up the preliminary-round play at the eight-country competition against Fiji on Wednesday. The Pacific Islanders beat Uruguay 55-34 in their opener.
The u-20 trophy winner graduates to play alongside the likes of New Zealand, South Africa, England and France in the top-tier world under-20 championship.
Canada have not played in the elite age-group tournament since 2009 when they finished 14th. They have competed a level below since, coming close to promotion in 2013 and 2015 when they were runners-up to Italy and Georgia, respectively.
Last year in Uruguay, Canada lost to eventual champions Japan, Chile and Namibia before blanking Hong Kong 38-0 in the seventh-place game.
-Additional reporting by The Star
Namibia's under-20 rugby national team continued to impress after humiliating Hong Kong 84-10 at the World Rugby U-20 Trophy 2018 in Bucharest on Saturday.
The team have been making strides at the competition and are expected to thrill against Samoa on Wednesday.
The 11th edition of the competition kicked off last week Tuesday, with eight teams battling it out for the title.
In their first match, Namibia beat hosts Romania 55-26 with an excellent display of attacking rugby.
The winner of the u-20 trophy will be promoted to the World Rugby U-20 Championship in 2019, replacing Japan who was relegated after finishing bottom of the 2018 edition in France last weekend.
In other action, Uruguay scored with no time remaining to defeat Canada 27-23 at the World Rugby U-20 Trophy tournament Saturday.
It was the second straight painful loss for the Canadian men at the second-tier age-group competition. They squandered a 26-11 halftime lead Tuesday in their opening 31-29 loss to Portugal.
Will Percillier kicked three penalties and two conversions for Canada, which trailed 15-6 at the half.
Canada pulled back 10 points on a converted Jackson Matthews try and Percillier penalty and then went ahead 23-20 on a converted try by Peter Ingoldsby in the 69th minute. But Matias D'Avanzo broke a tackle and scored from close range in the 83rd minute to seal Canada's fate.
Canada will wrap up the preliminary-round play at the eight-country competition against Fiji on Wednesday. The Pacific Islanders beat Uruguay 55-34 in their opener.
The u-20 trophy winner graduates to play alongside the likes of New Zealand, South Africa, England and France in the top-tier world under-20 championship.
Canada have not played in the elite age-group tournament since 2009 when they finished 14th. They have competed a level below since, coming close to promotion in 2013 and 2015 when they were runners-up to Italy and Georgia, respectively.
Last year in Uruguay, Canada lost to eventual champions Japan, Chile and Namibia before blanking Hong Kong 38-0 in the seventh-place game.
-Additional reporting by The Star
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