The neutrals were pleased and the Namibians hit the roof when they scored a great try but the winners were not best pleased.
The All Blacks beat Namibia 58-14 to set the highest winning margin of the World Cup, so far.
Post-match, New Zealand coach Steven Hansen admitted that parts of the game had been “frustrating”.
“When I say frustrating, in the last 20 minutes there were 40 incidents of the game not being played,” Hansen added.
Having raced into a 29-6 lead after 30 minutes, the world champions would have been hoping to rack up a score in the 70s or 80s.
Instead, the Namibians showed tremendous heart to restrict the All Blacks as best, and for as long, as possible. Two late tries added a gloss to the final scoreline.
Expecting perfection when it comes to rugby, the Kiwi media were miffed at Namibia’s tactics to slow the game down and referee Romain Poite’s willingness to let it happen.
John Mitchell questions if Romaine Poite is up to refereeing at this level after concussion check farce, amongst other things
— RugbyDump (@Rugbydump) September 24, 2015
In a New Zealand Herald piece entitled ‘The lost half: Only 12 minutes of action’, Chris Rattue declares that the rugby flame was “snuffed out” at Olympic Park.
He writes: ‘Here is another statistics to make World Rugby cringe and chase all those new customers in Hong Kong and America away.
‘There was a stoppage in play midway through the second half in which virtually nothing happened for six minutes, unless you count the ref talking to an errant player, a yellow card being issued, Namibian props and a wing running on and off, a couple of fleeting scrums, a couple of attempted scrums, and a penalty.
‘You really could have made a cup of tea during that, and even washed the teapot.’
Colin Slade (L) and Sam Whitelock (R) of the All Blacks on the bench.Liam Napier, writing for Stuff’s Rugby Heaven, believes Namibia may have shown other teams at the World Cup how to throw the All Blacks off their game.
‘While they lost 58-14, Namibia were successful in frustrating the All Blacks. For a side ranked 20th in the world and one expected to be pummelled, that’s no mean feat.’
