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The road to France 2023 Rugby World Cup (RWC) took a new twist on Sunday night when Namibia led Kenya 15-0 at half time and proceeded to win 36-0 to grab the sole ticket to the global event.

With Namibia having grabbed the ticket in pool “A”, Kenya’s qualification will hinge on their performance in the round robin Repechage event to be played in around robin format in November,

The winner will then be incorporated into pool C where they will jostle for the qualifying ticket against Australia, Wales, Fiji and Georgia.

As Namibia prepares for battle against New Zealand, France, Italy and Uruguay from September 8 , Kenya’s Simbas will now be looking forward to renewing rivalry with other hopefuls including Portugal and Hong Kong.

 Simbas have previously beaten Portugal and Hong Kong and will be seeking to make a repeat performance.

For Hong Kong, they will have to overcome Tonga to keep alive their dreams of qualification.

Despite the final results, the Kenyan outfit displayed improved defense that was put to the test by a 15-0 half time chase while in the second half.

Against Namibia, Kenya started off by conceding a try in the opener minutes and found it extremely hard to get back in the game.

Namibia had a torrid time in the first half but gradually came back in the game with their experienced hooker Thorsten Van Jaarveveld causing all sorts of troubles to the hosts by poking holes in Kenya’s backline which forced Simba coach Paul Odera to defense mode.

Van Jaarsveld was in his true element as he shoved his way into the try box for the opener inside seventeen minutes.

A penalty and a second try by Wian Conradie was converted by the Namibians for a commanding 15-0 lead at the break.         

On resumption, Simbas launched a series of attacks including crucial rolling mauls off line outs in Namibia’s 22 but shockingly got no points off such huge advantages.

The final minutes saw Namibia score two easy tries to end the match without conceding.

Meanwhile, Algeria finished third behind Kenya after upsetting Zimbabwe 20-12 while Uganda finished fifth after a nervy 18-17 win over Ivory Coast. Senegal finished seventh after a 44-30 win over Burkina Faso.

Uganda and Kenya are scheduled to meet again in the returning Elgon Cup that will serve as build-up for the incoming final qualifier in four months’ time.