Wales crush Namibia

Wales beat Namibia 81-7 yesterday in their biggest ever World Cup win to cast doubt over claims that so-called ‘minnow’ nations are making gains on rugby’s giants.

The Six Nations team took an easy step towards the quarter-finals with Scott Williams claiming three of their 12 tries and Stephen Jones celebrating his record 101st Welsh cap with a penalty and six conversions.

With the win, Wales confirmed the elimination of Fiji, who can now only play spoilers for the Dragons’ quarter-finals hopes when they meet on Sunday. Wales are equal on points with Samoa, who face defending champions South Africa.

Despite the yawning chasm in the scoreline, Wales laboured at times against a willing but fatigued Namibia side, who exit the tournament having conceded 266 points against 44 scored in four games.

“We’ve got the bonus point, which is what we wanted,” said Wales captain Sam Warburton. “Namibia made it very difficult for us, especially in the contact. That’s something we need to look at.”

Namibia lost 87-0 to South Africa just four days earlier among a run of large scores including New Zealand’s 83-7 demolition of Japan, England’s 67-3 win over Romania and Ireland’s 62-12 stroll against Russia.

The string of uncompetitive matches has made for unappetising viewing and raised questions over strong signs earlier in the tournament that ‘tier-two’ countries were catching up with the traditional powers.

Analysis by the International Rugby Board (IRB), which has invested heavily in the sport’s development, found that over the first two rounds, the average points difference in games between big and small countries had shrunk to 29, from 42 in 2007.

Result: Wales vs Nambia 81-7.

Pool D standings: South Africa (3-0-0) 14; Wales (2-0-1) 10; Samoa (2-0-1) 10; Fiji (1-0-2) 5; Namibia (0-0-4) 0.

Playing today: Pool A – Canada vs Japan. Pool C – Italy vs US.