Namibia beats Falcons

Namibia beats FalconsCraven Week lights up Gerswin Mouton's hat-trick helped Namibia open their 2017 Craven Week account with a strong 52-26 victory over the Falcons in the opening match of day two. Trailing 19-31 at the half-time interval, Namibia turned on the style in the second half to outscore their opponents by eight tries to five.

Falcons dominated early exchanges and found reward in the seventh minute when their pressure paid off. Loose forward Thabo Ndimande used his massive frame to power his way over the try line for the opening score. Dylan Schwartz added the extras to take a 7-0 lead after seven minutes.

Ndimande had his second soon after as he ran a straight line to cut through Namibia's defence. Schwartz popped over the easy conversion to extend the lead to 4-0 after 10 minutes.

Straight running was the order of the day for the Falcons as they bagged their third try through wing Wesley Noeth. Schwartz added his third conversion to ensure a 21-0 lead after 13 minutes.

It was then Namibia's turn to get their hands on the ball. They managed to string a few phases together and found reward in the 18th minute when they grabbed their first try of the game. Justin Muir ran onto the ball at pace from close range and bashed over. Denna Bruwer popped over the conversion to trail 7-21.

Namibia reduced the deficit further a few minutes later as they created an overlap and Le Roux Booysen had the easiest of scores in the left corner. Bruwer was unsuccessful with the conversion as they trailed 12-21.

However, Schwartz was on target in the 27th minute with his first successful penalty of the game before Ruben Beytell added his side's fourth try. Schwartz was once again on target to extend their lead to 31-12.

Namibia finished the half on the front foot though as loose forward Gilad Plaatjies dotted down his side's third try just before the break. Bruwer popped over the conversion as they trailed 19-31 at the break.

Namibia came out firing and bagged the first points of the second half when Gerswin Mouton scored his side's fourth try. Bruwer added the extras to trail 26-31 in the 38th minute. They took a 33-31 lead soon after when Bruwer converted his own try before extending their lead a minute later.

Plaatjies benefitted from a loose ball at the restart and the loose forward cantered over for his second try of the game. Bruwer's conversion took his side's lead to 40-31 after 48 minutes.

It took 14 minutes for the next points to be scored and it was worth the wait. An excellent break by Muir saw him cut through the Falcons' defence. He was brought down just before the try line but not before he offloaded to Mouton, who strolled over for his brace. Bruwer's conversion stretched their lead to 47-36 after 62 minutes.

Namibia started turning on the style as the match drew to a close. Flyhalf Bruwer mesmerised the Falcons defence before chipping ahead. Mouton raced after it and dotted down to grab his hat-trick. Bruwer missed the conversion but the damage was done.



For Namibia:

Tries: Justin Muir, Le Roux Booysen, Gilad Plaatjies: two tries each, Gerswin Mouton, and Denzo Bruwer, three tries each.

Six conversions: Denzo Bruwer.





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