Namibians snatch victory from Kings

Isuzu Southern Kings interim head coach Robbi Kempson ducked the media after his team were mugged 28-22 by Namibia’s “biltongboere” in Windhoek on Saturday.

It was a second loss in four days for the Kings, who were beaten 24-20 by Georgia in another warm-up match in Tbilisi on Tuesday.

After holding a 22-7 lead at the break, the Kings were found wanting in the final 11 minutes when the Namibians scored three late tries to snatch victory at the Hage Geingob Stadium.

It had been the same story in Tbilisi when Georgia turned up the heat late in the game to dash the Kings’ hopes. Kempson did not respond to requests from his own media department for his after-match thoughts.

The former Bok prop was thrust into the hot seat as interim head coach after an attempt to find a replacement for Deon Davids was aborted.

Before the game Kempson said: “We will ensure that we take the lessons we have learnt forward to make sure we do not make similar mistakes again against another World Cupbound side.”

The Kings will have a chance to atone for this latest setback when they face Namibia in a second match in Walvis Bay on Saturday.

The Namibians’ win will be a boost as they prepare for the World Cup in Japan.

Things were looking good for the Kings after two minutes when Bader Pretorius put his team ahead with a penalty.

Then, in the 16th minute, the powerful Howard Mnisi went over for the first try of the game to push the Kings’ lead to 8-0.

Namibia had their first points on the board when energetic former Cheetahs hooker Torsten van Jaarsveld crashed over for a try, which was converted by PW Steenkamp.

The Kings had a second try in the 25th minute from new signing J T Jackson and a conversion by Pretorius pushed the lead to 15-7.

The Jackson/Pretorius double act struck again in the 31st minute, leaving the Kings with a healthy 22-7 lead at the break.

The scored stayed that way until the 69th minute when Namibia dug deep to snatch an unlikely victory.

Eugene Jantjies triggered the comeback with a try which was converted by Cliven Loubser to reduce the deficit to 22-14.

Four minutes later, Chad Plato dotted down and Loubser added the extras.

In the 80th minute, Plato crossed for a second try to snatch victory for his team.

After the warm-ups, the Kings will play their first Guiness PRO14 match against Cardiff Blues at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on September 28.