Aix marks the spot for triumphant Namibia

Namibia 36-0 Kenya

Namibia secured a spot in a seventh consecutive World Cup and won the 2022 Rugby Africa Cup with a dominant victory over Namibia in a sweltering Aix-en-Provence.

The Namibians opened the scoring inside ten minutes as blindside Wian Conradie scored the first of a memorable hat-trick as he rounded off a beautifully put-together counter-attack.

The Welwitschias were well clear at the break as Conradie crossed for his second, shortly after a superb 70-metre break from Louis Van der Westhuizen.

Cliven Loubser kept the scoreboard ticking over to take Namibia out of reach, before Conradie completed his hat-trick and captain Johan Deysel crossed in the dying embers of the game to send his side back to France in 2023.

Kenyans fall short of best in disappointing display

Kenya put a performance in that was well short of the quality that had seen them despatch Uganda and battle past Algeria to reach the final in a frustratingly one-sided defeat for them.

Though both breaks that set up the first-half tries for Namibia came from their excellent attacking play, they were helped by dismal tackling from the Kenyans, and enormous gaps in their defence.

Their discipline then fell apart as they chased the game, Conradie notching four penalties in all as he took his side to a 24-0 lead.

And it ultimately became a thrashing, as they shipped a further two tries in the final three minutes to leave them staring at an ugly scoreline.

Namibia make it a magnificent seven

Namibia knew that once they had overcome their biggest test – in the semi-finals against Zimbabwe where they came through 34-19 – they were very likely to be making another World Cup.

But that cannot take away from what was a terrific performance on the night, with Allister Coetzee’s side clinical in attack and mean in defence.

Kenya were barely able to play any of the free-flowing rugby that had seen them score 78 points in the previous two games in the tournament, and the two late tries Namibia did score were fair reward for a dominant display.

In their seven consecutive visits since 1999, Namibia have yet to win a World Cup game, though it could be argued they were denied one of their best opportunities in the previous tournament, when their game against Canada was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis.

Namibia lost by smaller margins to each of the other three sides in Pool B at that tournament, and having lost by just one point to Georgia at the previous World Cup in 2015, that game looked to be the one where they would finally manage a first victory.

With Uruguay in their group next year, they will hope they stand a chance of making history in that fixture, but for now will be celebrating sealing becoming African champions once again.