Standing the All Blacks’ way was the lowest ranked team in the tournament, which had eight amateur players in their squad. A comprehensive win was expected from the defending champion, but the Namibian players left with their heads held high.
Seven minutes into the match, full back Victor Vito was the beneficiary of some slick passing from New Zealand front line and he touched down to score a try; the conversion made it 10-0.
Four minutes later, Nehe Milner-Skudder charged down the right flank to impound more misery on Namibia, increasing the score to 15-0.
On 21 minutes, captain Sam Crane barged down the middle to make it 20-3 to New Zealand, and an easy victory was well within the team’s sights.
Nine minutes before the halftime break, off a throw-in, lock Beauden Barrett scored the pick of the bunch when he ran nearly half the field to make an impressive try, giving the All Blacks a 27-6 lead.
But on 51 minutes, there was a moment to savor for the team that came into the match with no delusions of a win. Johan Deysel managed to breach the resilient Kiwi defence to score a memorable try, much to the delight of the coaching staff.
But New Zealand was never really troubled. Codie Taylor scored off a nifty up and under that bounced the All Blacks’ way right on full time and got the conversion to make the final score 56-14.
"We got through that and we have to deal. It'll be a good learning curve for us to have to deal with stuff like that, going forward. Really happy for Namibia. Had them in the changing sheds (rooms). They're a good bunch of guys and I thought they committed themselves commendably, and they'll be happy with their night's work," China Ebay said Steve Hansen, New Zealand coach.
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