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Namibia eye tilt at Lelos

True Colours: Nambian fans take in the action

Namibia coach Hakkies Husselman has tipped the Pumas for a place in the World Cup semi-finals after seeing them record an emphatic 63-3 win over his side in Marseille on Saturday.

The Africans battled gamely for the first 25 minutes of the match at the Stade Vélodrome here on Saturday but Argentina proved far too strong in the forwards and ran out easy nine-try victors as the defence wilted.

Husselman played for Namibia against Argentina in the 2003 edition of the tournament, but he is adamant that the current crop of Pumas are a class apart.

"This team is a much better coached side than that one," he said.

"The players are more evolved and more mature. They are better rugby players. They know when to do things and that is very important. That will take them far and maybe there's a semi-final for them."

Husselman added that his side's focus had always been on their final game against Georgia where they will have a chance of claiming their first ever World Cup win.

"It wasn't our best side out there tonight and we will be stronger against Georgia," he said.

"It's difficult to play three big games in a row and the last one four days later, but the guys are prepared for that.

"We hoped to get something out of our first three tough matches, but the Georgia game was the one we have been targeting for our first win."

Namibia stand-in captain Corne Powell said that his troops could draw on the positive open spell to the game.

"Even at half-time, with the score at 25-3, we still thought we were in the game," he said.

"Most of their points were from our mistakes, kicks out on the full, or kicks that didn't make touch and were counter-attacked back.

"Unfortunately we couldn't get our hands on the ball in the second-half. We ran out of defenders in the end.

"Argentina are a very good team, there's a reason they're top of the pool.

"We'll go away and work hard. It's important we get a good result against Georgia on Wednesday."