When Australia played Namibia, it was the first Test ever at Adelaide Oval, though what it tested is uncertain. It was no contest as the Wallabies ran out winners 142-0 and broke all sorts of records, amongst others the biggest winning margin in a Rugby World Cup match.
The biggest margin of victory previously had been New Zealand's 145-17 victory over Japan in Bloemfontein in 1995.
All kinds of "records" were on the cards at half-time already as the Wallabies led 69-0 after scoring 11 tries. As a contest it was woeful. In fact, the scoring would have been even bigger and faster if the Wallabies had just picked up the ball and run with it without wasting intricacies on an uninterested defence. You have heard the stories of the team that played against the tackling bags and lost. Tackling bags would probably have stood firmer than the Namibian defence on this Adelaide afternoon.
The first try came after just two minutes. Namibia won a scrum, Hakkies Hüsselman kicked out on the full and Tuqiri went down the right-hand touchline beating tacklers with ease to send Chris Latham over for the first of his four tries in the half.
Namibia kicked the kick-off out on the full and the Wallabies did lots of phases, Justin Harrison produced a side-step and David Lyons scored. Latham got the next one after many phases and a plunge into the corner. Then Stirling Mortlock charged, bashed and ran away for a try. That brought Australia the bonus point after just 12 minutes -- the fastest bonus point at the World Cup. The Wallabies then led 26-0.
On and on the scoring went -- Tuqiri from a five-metre scrum after Lyons was held up over the line, a penalty try from a five-metre scrum when the Namibians disintegrated, Latham a third from a scrum, Rogers with a delicate stop and step inside after a long movement, Paul after all sorts of accurate passing, Tuqiri and Latham. All that for 69-0 lead at half-time.
On and on it went in the second half. There was no fun or exhilaration in it as it became, in many ways, painful as the Namibians lost pride and heart -- and players through injury.
As in the first half, so in the second half the Wallabies scored 11 tries. They scored one more than the All Blacks scored in 1995. Latham's try at 74 minutes gave him an Australian record of five tries in a Test.
Rogers scored 42 points, an Australian record. (In 1995 Simon Culhane scored 45 against Japan.) Rogers kicked 16 conversions, an Australian record. (Culhane kicked 20 in 1995).
Man of the Match: It's silly to choose one from so many, but Chris Latham and Mat Rogers will be credited with most records. Of the two, Rogers had the better all-round match and is our choice. All of that said there were two Namibian battlers who deserved mention -- prop Kees Lensing and replacement flank Schalk van der Merwe who played in the backs as a stopper -- a stopper of limited effectiveness.
Moment of the Match: There was Justin Harrison's side-step, but the Mat Rogers one wins it. He skated along in his usual way, stopped dead and then stepped inside to score.
Villain of the Match: The players behaved. If there were villains, it was whoever put that Namibian team into the field in that frame of mind and called it a Test match.
The Teams:
Australia: 1 Ben Darwin, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Matt Dunning, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 6 David Croft, 7 George Smith, 8 David Lyons, 9 Chris Whitaker (c), 10 Matt Giteau, 11 Mat Rogers, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 14 Lote Tuqiri, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves: Matthew Burke, Matt Cockbain, David Giffin, John Roe, Morgan Turinui
Unused: Brendan Cannon, Bill Young
Namibia: 1 Neil Du Toit, 2 Cor Van Tonder, 3 Kees Lensing, 4 Eben Isaacs, 5 Heino Senekal, 6 Herman Lintvelt, 7 Shaun Van Rooi, 8 Jurgens Van Lill, 9 Hakkies Husselman (c), 10 Mot Schreuder, 11 Jurie Booysen, 12 Du Preez Grobler, 13 Emile Wessels, 14 Deon Mouton, 15 Ronaldo Pedro
Reserves: Melrick Afrika, Andries Blaauw, Sean Furter, Phillipus Isaacs, Niel Swanepoel, Schalk Van Der Merwe, Deon Grunschloss
Attendance: 33597
Referee: Jutge j.
Points Scorers:
Australia
Tries: Latham C.E. 5, Tuqiri L. 3, Mortlock S.A. 1, Grey N.P. 1, Rogers M.S. 2, Giteau M. 3, Paul J.A. 1, Lyons D. 1, Roe J.A. 1, Turinui M. 2, Burke M.C. 1, Penalty try 1
Conv: Rogers M.S. 16
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