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UAE’s Rugby World Cup 2027 ambitions came to an abrupt end at the Mandela Stadium in Uganda as they were overpowered by the Namibians in the Asia/Africa RWC 2027 Play-Off - losing heavily 86-29 with the Namibians running in 13 tries to convincingly win the one-off contest.
The UAE scored first and were in the game in the opening quarter but the experienced Welwitschias side turned on the power and showed their class as they punished the UAE, who were poor in defence and discipline. There were nine tries in the opening half, six of which were scored by the winners as they led 39-22 at the break.
The result also means that the Namibians have yet to lose to an Asian side, while UAE are yet to beat an African team. The stats for the game showed that Namibia had 100% success in their scrum and lineout, while the UAE only won 3/5 scrums on their own ball and 5/10 lineouts.
The UAE conceded two yellow cards, and they came into the match already with a poor record, and the African side made the most of the player advantage.
The opening half saw the teams exchange tries freely as there were defensive lapses on both sides, which made for an entertaining albeit questionable quality game of Test rugby.
Jacques Burger, the Welwitschias Head Coach, said, “We made so many mistakes, we let people in – we score, we let them in, we score, let them in – if we can manage the game better and be a bit more mature in the way we play, it’s going to be tough to beat us.
The great thing is it shows where African rugby is at the moment. Zimbabwe deserved to qualify – and we’ve got another shot, and we deserved that today. [We have a] lot to work on but we’ll get back to the drawing board and make sure we’re better next time.
We asked for a second shot, we’ve got a second shot – now we’ve got to make it work. We need to show people the character of this team. With our backs against the wall, we’ll fight for that qualification spot.”
UAE Head Coach Jacques Benade said, “This was an unbelievable experience and we learned a lot from this. They are a good side and better than us, and we just need to keep building.”
UAE Captain Andrew Semple added, "We started well, and we wanted a good start. They got on top of us in the set pieces. 12 months ago, we were nowhere near this, so it's made people stand up and notice us. We want to keep developing. We are disappointed we aren't going to play in Dubai, but good luck to Namibia."
Namibia fly-half André van der Berg contributed 21 points in scoring nine conversions and a penalty. Tries were scored by: Jurgen Meyer, Richard Hardwick (2), Torsten van Jaarsveld (2), Oliver Kurz, Aston Mukwiilongo (2), Danie van der Merwe, Adriaan Ludick, Armand Combrinck (2) and Max Katjijeko.
There were UAE tries for Emosi Vecenaua (2), Jack Stapley, and Max Johnson
The Namibians have been to every Rugby World Cup since 1999 and will move on to the Final Qualification tournament in Dubai in November, and Burger said of the preparation for the tournament.
“It’s going to be extremely tough against some tough opposition. All the players will go back to their clubs, so the preparation time does make it a little bit tough.
But, we asked for a second shot, we’ve got a second shot – now we’ve got to make it work. We need to show people the character of this team. With our backs against the wall, we’ll fight for that qualification spot.”
Belgium is confirmed for the tournament, while two potential teams from the Pacific and South America, and North America are to be confirmed.