It was everything but a picknick for the Springboks last night in Windhoek as the Namibia Invitation XV made the Boks fight for their victory of 36 – 7.

That scoreline might sound like it was a one-sided game, but it was anything but that. The SA XV led only 8-7 at half-time, and for some time into the second half before eventually the addition of first choice substitutes saw the shadow Boks find their range and run away with it.

However, the Namibians butchered a couple of excellent scoring opportunities which would have put them into the lead near the 50 minute mark and it might have been a different finish to the game had they gone ahead.

The turning point of the game came with the second try to wing Odwa Ndungane, which came from a breakaway sparked by an intercept near the South African line, with Ryan Kankowski running much of the length of the field. The Namibians had been pushing on the line for along period, and seeing their lead slip from one point to eight points in such fashion was the killer psychological blow for the invitation team.

But while the Boks did well to play the big point of the game with a winning hand, any British and Irish Lions supporter who saw this game would have walked away from the stadium in a confident mood.

While their enthusiasm should be tempered with the knowledge that this was some way short of being the best Springbok team, or even second best, the game failed to answer any of the nagging questions that have been bugging Bok supporters.

Earl Rose did not put a foot wrong at fullback, but he was not spectacular either, and it would probably be fair to say that he looked far more the part when he moved to flyhalf later in the game. Indeed, along with the second Ndungane against the run of play try, the switch of Rose to flyhalf was one of the turning points.

Rose, apart from his attacking skills, which he showed to good effect as he weaved his way in and out of defenders not long after moving to flyhalf, is a much better and longer kicker of the ball than the man he replaced, Peter Grant.

It was in the territory game that the Boks came distinctly second in this match, where Grant just never had the firepower to deal with the distance attained by Derick Hougaard, the Namibian flyhalf. Jaco van der Weshuyzen is also back from his travels, and between them the two former Boks ensured that the latest incumbents spent much of the game getting acquainted with the wrong side of halfway.

That did change a around a bit when Rose moved to pivot, but admittedly the Boks had also been injected by the arrival on the field of Jean de Villiers and Juan Smith. Both scored tries in the time remaining as they galvanised their teammates.

And in some key areas, there are still far more questions than answers, with this game leaving the way clear for Zane Kirchner and Morne Steyn to erase some of those doubts at Loftus later today.

The final score might make it look like it was a one-sided game, but the Namibians were the better team in the first half and for some considerable time after the turn. Indeed, two missed dropped goals in the first part of the second half, and a couple of other missed opportunities attacking from close range, might have set up an embarrassing situation for the Boks had the Namibians just had a bit more luck.

The Namibians were robbed of some of the big beef that was supposed to play for them when the top provinces withdrew their players earlier in the week. But the Blue Bull Vodacom Cup side came to the rescue to fill in the holes, and it was unsurprising that they played something that bore a close relation to traditional old fashioned Blue Bulls rugby.

An area where the Namibians gave the Boks something to consider was the set-scrums.

SCORERS:

South Africa XV – Tries: Odwa Ndungane 2, Juan Smith, Johann Muller and Jean de Villiers; Conversions: Peter Grant and Earl Rose 3; Penalty: Peter Grant.

Namibia XV – Try: Kees Lensing, Conversion: Derick Hougaard.

Source + Pic: supersport.co.za

Tags: namibia invitation xv, Springboks