Uruguay secured their first win at this year’s Rugby World Cup, fighting back to beat Namibia 36-26 in their Pool A meeting in Lyon.
Namibia led 14-0 early on and 23-12 soon after half-time, but were punished for ill-discipline as their bid for a first-ever World Cup win fell short. Des Sethie saw his yellow card for a high tackle upgraded to a red, while Johan Coetzee and the captain Tjiuee Uanivi were also sent to the sin bin.
Uruguay had given France a tough test in a 27-12 opening defeat and led Italy 17-7 at half-time before losing 38-17, but made a shocking start here. Two tries from the full-back Baltazar Amaya, plus a superb solo effort from Santiago Arata, eventually turned things around as Los Teros earned their fourth win at a Rugby World Cup.
Namibia had lost heavily in all three of their previous group games against Italy, New Zealand and France but were comfortably the better side early on. Gerswin Mouton pounced on a loose pass to break downfield inside the first minute, before JC Greyling went over in the left corner 10 minutes later.
Two conversions from Tiaan Swanepoel put the Africans 14 points ahead, and while Uruguay got on the board with close-range scores from Amaya and hooker Germán Kessler, the Namibia fly-half added two penalties to secure a 20-12 lead at half-time.
An edgy Uruguay display peppered with handling errors looked set to continue early in the second half as Swanepoel kicked Namibia nine points clear. Esteban Meneses’ side dug in, however, and the pressure began to tell as Namibia prop Coetzee was shown a yellow card after a series of transgressions.
With Namibia down to 14 men, Amaya produced a brilliant finish in the right corner, leaping over Damian Stevens to touch down. Felipe Etcheverry converted and the gap was closed to four points at 23-19, before the momentum decisively swung Uruguay’s way moments later.
A break upfield fell apart when Stevens was unable to reel in an awkward low pass and Uruguay countered. Scrum-half Arata scooped up a loose ball and slalomed beyond two defenders to put the South Americans in front for the first time. Namibia, playing their fourth game in 18 days, were beginning to feel fatigue after their flying start.
Uanivi, the Namibia skipper, was shown a yellow card for a high tackle with 18 minutes left. Within a minute his side were down to 13 men when the replacement prop Sethie was sin-binned for a dangerous challenge on Bautista Basso. Uanivi was able to return but Sethie’s yellow card was unsurprisingly upgraded to a red.
Uruguay took advantage with a converted try from winger Basso and while Swanepoel’s fourth penalty brought Namibia back within a score, replacement Felipe Berchesi quickly restored Uruguay’s 10-point lead with a place-kick of his own.
Another Uruguay replacement, Eric Dosantos, was then shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Adriaan Booysen which was picked up by the TMO. The referee, Mathieu Raynal, admonished Uanivi for complaining that he had missed the challenge on the field as Namibia’s frustration grew.
Despite Dosantos’ absence, Uruguay were able to hold off their opponents to earn a bonus-point win. They still have a mathematical chance of reaching the quarter-finals but would need to produce a seismic shock in their final pool game against New Zealand.
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“Uruguay took control of the game and that is Test match rugby. When you concede 12 penalties and three cards, it is very difficult,” the Namibia head coach, Allister Coetzee, said afterwards.
“I must commend the team for playing until the end. Defensively there were errors in [tackle] technique in being too upright. It is quite difficult to swallow, but in the end Uruguay deserved to win.”
“We are a small country with not a lot of depth so we need a high-performance plan to be put in place for these guys,” Coetzee added after Namibia extended their winless World Cup run to 26 games. “That is the next step after this World Cup.”
Meneses was keen to highlight the significance of victory, adding to previous finals successes against Spain (in 1999), Georgia (2003) and Fiji (2019). “The players are incredible, I am very proud for them,” he said.
The head coach also looked forward to his side’s game against the All Blacks, in Lyon on 5 October. “All the players and staff want to play against them, it is a very good opportunity to play against New Zealand.”
