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Namibia, Zimbabwe book Barthes Cup semifinal slots

Saturday, April 9th, 2022 14:55 | By
An Ivory Coast player tackles his Namibia counterpart during the first quarter-final of the Barthes Cup on Saturday, April 9, 2022. Namibia won 62-0. PHOTO/Kenya Rugby (@OfficialKRU)/Twitter

Zimbabwe booked a semi-final slot in the 2022 Barthes U20 Cup after securing a 19-18 victory over Tunisia in the second quarter-final match played at the Nyayo National stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The 12:00 pm clash brought the best out of the two nations with the much-fancied Zimbabwe settling fast in the game.

Zimbabwe started brightly and converted an early penalty for a 3-0 lead. Tunisia were then reduced to 14 men when Mohamed Amine Azozi was sent to the bin for a high tackle that allowed Zimbabwe to convert yet another penalty to extend their lead to 6-0. 

Fantastic play from the North Africans enabled them to cut the lead when they scored the first try of the game but missed conversion. 

Zimbabwe responded well to the Tunisia threat when they got their first try and conversion of the day to take a 11-5 halftime lead. 

Tunisia gave a perfect response in the second half when they converted a penalty to reduce the deficit to 11-8 but they could not hold onto the momentum as Zims got a penalty of theirs, converting it for a 14-8 lead. 

The game of penalties saw Tunisia get their own, converting it to make the scores 14-11. 

A brilliant move by the North Africans saw them get their second try of the day when Mohamed Amine Azozi went through the center poles to score, and Ilyes Ayari then successfully converted to give them a lead for the first time.

They however failed to hold onto the lead and fell in the final hurdle when Zimbabwe scored a last gasp try to end the match with 19-18 victors. Zimbabwe will now meet the winner between Madagascar and Zambia in the semifinal. 

In the early kick-off, 2019 losing finalists Namibia got their hunt for the 2022 U20 Barthes Trophy to a flying start when they thrashed Ivory Coast 62-0 in the opening game.

The Namibians were in a class of their own with their ten tries as they breezed past the West Africans who failed to get any response whatsoever in the match.

Just ten minutes in, Feliciano Shakira and Patrick Frits had already landed two tries that were both successfully converted by Gerald Stephan to put Namibia 14-0 up, a telltale sign of what awaited the opponents.

Unable to offer anything as a counter-response, the Ivorians found themselves conceding three more unconverted tries as they went into the half time break trailing 29-0.

Of the three added, Stephan landed a first-half brace on either side of Jano Atto’s touchdown to ensure the comfortable lead at the interval.

In the second half, Ivory Coast improved a little bit but even with the try line just at their mercy, the team could not find anyway past a mean and resolute defence that kept them out whenever they probed.

Namibia on the other hand added five more tries that were all successfully converted save for one to complete the 62-0 rout that ensured their ticket to the semifinals.

Stephan bagged his hat trick in that half as Shakira completed his brace with Niel Holtzahauzen, Franko Dylan and Jurgen Beddies also getting on the scoresheet in the convincing win.

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