Namibia moved closer to defending their Africa Rugby Gold Cup title after a convincing 48-24 victory over hosts Uganda at the Legends Club in Lugogo on Saturday.
"The boys knew the gam plan and did exactly as we had planned. It is a sweet win away from home," Namibia coach Phil Thomas told KweséESPN after the game.
In Saturday's other match, Kenya comprehensively beat hosts Zimbabwe 41-22 at the Hartsfield Ground in Bulawayo.
The game was delayed by 40 minutes after a military chopper landed on the filed of play as the players took the field. It was the Ugandan speaker of parliament, Rebecca Kadaga ,who used the chopper to attend the game.
The determined Namibian team started the game with speed, but the hosts drew first blood when Asuman Mugerwa scored the first try, while Philip Wokorach made no mistake with the conversion.
But, two minutes later Namibia scored a penalty through Clive Loubser before Justin Newman scored a try to make it 10-7 after 10 minutes.
Wokoroch, who was voted Man of the Match in Uganda's 78-17 win over Tunisia, kicked a penalty to make it 10-10 after 15 minutes. But the quick Namibian team later ran riot and scored two tries, with Loubser converting one of them. The visitors took a 22-10 halftime lead.
After the break Uganda failed to find their rhythm, as poor ball handling by Micheal Okorach gifted Namibia with a chance to stretch their lead with another try to make it 29-10. The visitors, with nice interplay, made it 34-10, with Newman on the scoresheet again. But Loubser missed the conversion.
Making his debut for Uganda, the Cranes' Eric Mula scored a try on 54 minutes after a neat pass by Mathias Ochwo. The conversion was well struck by Wokorach, before he also also picked a try two minutes later. But later the hosts failed to match Namibia's speed and clever passing when the visitors added two more tries.
The win takes Namibia to 20 points after they also picked a bonus point.
Uganda's head coach John Duncan was a disappointed man after the defeat. "We made some silly mistakes at the back and got punished," he said.
Uganda now host Zimbabwe in their next game.