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What to watch in men’s rugby: Namibia out to defend African title
By Martyn Thomas
Namibia will continue their Rugby Africa Cup title defence this week and you can find out whether the Welwitschias can win the tournament for a seventh successive time live and for free with RugbyPass TV.
The Welwitschias booked their place in the semi-finals with a six-try 38-5 defeat of Burkina Faso in Kampala last Saturday.
Despite the scoreline, Namibia were made to work hard for their win and didn’t breach the opposition line until the 33rd minute when Quirione Majiedt notched the first of his two tries.
Even then it took until well into the second half for Namibia to pull away from Burkina Faso and their reward for victory is a semi-final against Zimbabwe.
The Sables held off a second-half fightback from Uganda last weekend, holding on to beat the hosts 22-20 in Kampala and secure their passage to the last four.
Wednesday’s semi-final is a repeat of the teams’ meeting at the same stage in Aix-en-Provence in 2022, the last time the Rugby Africa Cup was staged.
Namibia won that match 34-19 en route to the title and qualification to Rugby World Cup 2023, and the Welwitschias have history on their side. They haven’t lost to Zimbabwe in their previous 13 meetings, dating back to 2001.
Whoever comes out on top in the latest chapter of their shared rivalry will play either Kenya or Algeria in Sunday’s final in Kampala.
In a mirror of the other 2022 semi-final, Algeria will hope to avenge their narrow 36-33 defeat to the Simbas in Marseille two years ago.
Algeria full-back Julien Caminati kicked 17 points last Saturday as Algeria booked their place in the last four with a 32-12 victory against Ivory Coast.
They will face Kenya again on Wednesday, after the Simbas ran in five tries to beat Senegal 36-17.
Day two’s action will get underway on Wednesday morning when Senegal take on Ivory Coast before Burkina Faso face Uganda in the placing semi-finals.
The 2024 Rugby Africa Cup champions will be crowned on Sunday, and you can stream all of the action from Kampala on RugbyPass TV, except in Uganda.
Wednesday, July 24th
09:00 BST (GMT+1) – Rugby Africa Cup 2024 day two – WATCH LIVE HERE
Sunday, July 28th
09:00 BST – Rugby Africa Cup 2024 finals day – WATCH LIVE HERE
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Latest Comments
While we were living in Belgium, French rugby was very easy to watch on tv and YouTube. Given the ghastly weather, riding indoors on a trainer and watching French rugby was a very passable experience. I became quite a fan.
Interestingly, last week in Buenos Aires I shared a table with a couple from Toulouse, who were at the Toulon game themselves, and were curious how much I knew about French club rugby. I explained the Brussels weather. They smiled and understood.
Now back in CA, biking again.
Go to commentsTotally agree.
It could be that Australia may not have top Coaches coaching at the elite level around the world? Only the ARU can answer that question. My prediction is Australia will beat Scotland and Ireland. Schmidt has now got the right players and tools to develop Australia into a formidable XV.
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