Zimbabwe's Sables beat Namibia 36-33 at the National Sports Stadium on Saturday, holding on through a second-half fightback in front of one of the biggest crowds the team has played to in a long time.[1] The Herald's match report called it a gutsy win, and ZBC News described it as a thrilling victory, with the Sables surviving a late push from the visitors.[1][2]
How the match went
The Sables started fast. Liam Larkan, Aiden Burnett, Godfrey Muzanargwo and Darrell Makwasha all scored in the first half, while Namibia hooker Edward Drotsky answered with two tries of his own, leaving Zimbabwe ahead at the break.[3]
The second half was harder. Namibia were awarded a penalty try after the Sables conceded too many penalties in their own 22, and Kyle Niel and Armand Combrink then added two more tries to pull the visitors back into the game. Zimbabwe also had two players, Dylan Utete and Godwin Mangenje, sent to the sin bin during the match. The Sables answered with a try from captain Hilton Mudariki and a penalty from fly-half David Hayes, who finished with four conversions and a penalty, and that was enough to get over the line.[3]
Namibia's Winks Tromp kicked three conversions. The Zimbabwe Rugby Union did not fill the stadium, as it had hoped to, but the crowd was lively and cheered every try.[3][1]
What the coaches said
Sables head coach Pieter Benade said he was happy with the team's technique in broken play and with the spirit shown, but that there is work to do on the set piece and set piece defence. He also pointed to the locally based players who got a run, and said it was good to play in front of a home crowd "after all these years."[3][1]
Namibia coach Jerome Paarwater thanked Zimbabwe Rugby for the game, saying it is hard to find good Test matches in Africa. He said Namibia's set piece worked well in the second half, but that their defence let them down in the first. The Welwitschias are already preparing for the next World Cup cycle.[3]
What it means
The result adds to Zimbabwe's recent record against Namibia. The Sables beat them in the Rugby Africa Cup semi-final and again in the July 2025 final, which sent Zimbabwe to the 2027 World Cup in Australia, their first since 1991.[4] This was a different kind of match, a Test with no trophy on the line, but it was played at the National Sports Stadium for the first time in more than two decades, and it ended in a home win.[1]
It is also preparation. The Namibia match was part of the Sables' build-up to a November tour of Europe, where they face Samoa on 7 November, Uruguay on 14 November and Chile on 21 November.[5] Based on Benade's comments, the set piece and the penalties conceded in their own 22 are the obvious things to fix before the squad travels.
Sources
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