Rugby Union: Wales remain unbeaten after Boobyer's face-saving tackle

Namibia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Wales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

IN THE not too distant past Wales would have lost this game and, but for one try-saving tackle by the Llanelli centre Neil Boobyer, they could easily have suffered the first defeat of their African tour, writes Robert Cole from Windhoek.

This tour, however, has begun to sow the seeds of a brighter future for Welsh rugby, and Boobyer's tackle typified the spirit that exists within a happy squad. With a three-man overlap and only five metres to go to the Welsh line, Namibia seemed destined to take the lead for a fourth time.

But Boobyer took out his man, Michael Marais, with such venom that Wales won a scrum and cleared their line. After that Wales pulled away in the final quarter to make Gareth Llewellyn their most successful captain in five years with three Test victories in a row.

The home side led 17-14 at haf-time but two second-half tries from the Llanelli No 8, Emyr Lewis, helped Wales to become the first full international side to beat Namibia in 15 games. Neil Jenkins picked up another 13 points to hoist his tour tally to 73 in five outings.

Namibia: Tries Coetzee, Kotze; Conversions Coetzee (2); Penalties Coetzee (3). Wales: Tries Lewis (2), Hill, Proctor, Moon; Conversions Jenkins (2); Penalties Jenkins (3).

NAMIBIA: J Coetzee (Police); G Mans (capt), H Snyman, M Marais (Wanderers), E Meyer; M Booysen (United), B Buitendag (Trans Namib); C Derks (Walvis Park), S Smith, A Van Wyk (United), D Kotze, B Malgas (Trans Namib), J Barnard (Wanderers), H Brink (Police), K Goosen (Oranjemund). Replacement: G Rich (Police) for Barnard, 76.

WALES: M Rayer; S Hill (Cardiff), R Bidgood (Newport), N Boobyer, W Proctor (Llanelli); N Jenkins (Pontypridd), R Moon (Llanelli); M Griffiths (Cardiff), A Lamerton (Llanelli), H Williams-Jones (South Wales Police), P Davies (Llanelli), G Llewellyn (Neath, capt), S Davies (Swansea), E Lewis, L Jones (Llanelli). Replacement: M Perego (Llanelli) for Lewis, 78.

Referee: K McCartney (Scotland).