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| October 15, 2003 | Wednesday | Sha'aban 18, 1424 |
Rampant Argentina maul Namibia
GOSFORD (Australia), Oct 14: A man who once fought a lion with his bare hands failed to save Namibia from being mauled 67-14 by the Pumas in another lop-sided World Cup match on Tuesday.
Schalk van der Merwe could be the bravest player at the World Cup after fighting off a lion to save his sister’s favourite baboon but the African flanker was powerless to stop Argentina romping to victory in the pool A match.
Centre Martin Gaitan grabbed a hat trick of tries as Argentina rebounded from last week’s opening defeat by Australia, recording their biggest ever World Cup victory against a Namibia side officially ranked the worst in the tournament.
The Pumas ran in 10 tries to two, claiming maximum points to draw level with Ireland at the top of the group standings and stay in contention for a place in the quarter-finals.
Argentina dominated every facet of the game, scoring two pushover tries from scrums and being awarded two penalty tries as well as fixing the lineout problems that plagued them in their 24-8 loss to the Wallabies.
Namibia, who conceded an average of 62 points per match at the last World Cup, were left to feed off scraps of possession but made things harder by repeatedly coughing up the ball.
Their only points came from tries by centre Du Preez Grobler and scrumhalf Hakkies Husselman and two conversions by flyhalf Emile Wessels.
The Pumas led 27-7 at the interval after running in four quick tries, hooker Federico Mendez setting the tone when he strolled over untouched in the third minute at Central Coast Stadium.
Number eight Pablo Bouza grabbed the first of his two pushover tries in the 18th minute before inside centre Juan Fernandez Miranda claimed the third when he charged on to a perfectly timed pass from flyhalf Gonzalo Quesada.
Argentina secured their bonus point when Welsh referee Nigel Williams awarded a penalty try six minutes before the break after the Namibians collapsed a scrum.
Gaitan scored three tries in the second half, Bouza got his second and scrumhalf Nicolas Fernandez Miranda his first. Williams also awarded a second penalty try and Quesada, the leading pointscorer at the 1999 World Cup, kicked seven goals and a penalty for a personal tally of 17 points.—Reuters
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