Namibia take a giant step towards NZ

Namibia beat Tunisia 18-13 in Tunis on Saturday in the first leg of the Africa Cup Final which rewards the winner with a ticket to the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

Namibia scored two tries - by fullback Chrysander Botha and hooker Hugo Horne. Emile Wessels kicked a conversion and two penalty goals.

Namibia are now in a good position to win the tie as they next play Tunisia in Windhoek in a fortnight's time.

If they make it, it will be the fourth World Cup they have been to. Tunisia have not yet been to one.

Namibia, who enjoyed great forward superiority for most of the match, scored first when fullback Chrysander Botha took a long pass and raced away to score. Emile Wessels converted and the Biltongboere lead 7-0 after 3 minutes.

Two penalty goals by Lofti Bensellem reduced the lead to 7-6. A Wessels penalty made it 10-6 at the break.

Namibia went further ahead when their forwards powered over and hooker Hugo Horn scored. 15-6. It was not a safe lead as Tunisian wing Abbes Kherfani scored in the corner and Bensellem converted. 15-13 but the Namibians scored a second penalty with three minutes to play.

Scorers:

For Namibia:
Tries: Botha, Hugo
Con: Wessels
{Pens: Wessels 2

For Tunisia:
Try: Kherfani
Con: Bensellem
Pens: Bensellem 2

Teams:

Tunisia: 15 Sabeur Charrada, 14 Haithem Cheili, 13 Amor Hamdi, 12 Amor Mezgar, 11 Abbes Kherfani, 10 Lofti Bensellem, 9 Sabri Gmir, 8 Moured Souid, 7 Mohamed Ben Hmida, 6 Kaled Zegden, 5 Abdelmajid Zemzem, 4 Amara Dridi, 3 Akram Aouamri, 2 Aziz Kassar, 1 Hedi Souid (captain)
Replacements: 16 Noktar Guetari, 17 Sari Limevi ,18 Chahir Aouadi, 19 Amine Gharsallah, 20 Mohamed Ali Kochlef, 21 Aimen Gloulou, 22 Mohamed Garali

Namibia: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Bradley Langenhoven, 13 Piet van Zyl, 12 Tinus Venter, 11 Heini Bock, 10 Emile Wessels, 9 Jurie van Tonder, 8 Tinus du Plessis, 7 Jacques Nieuwenhuis, 6 Jacques Burger, 5 Nico Esterhuizen, 4 Wacca Kazombiaze, 3 Jane du Toit, 2 Hugo Horn, 1 Kees Lensing (captain).
Replacements: 6 Shaun Esterhuizen, 17 Marius Visser, 18 Heinz Koll, 19 PJ van Lill, 20 Eugene Jantjies, 21 Robert Herridge, 22 David Philander.

Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Hassan Ti'razi (Morocco)