Namibia 55-6 Uganda
Zimbabwe 23-23 Morocco
Uganda Rugby Cranes' hopes of making next year's
Rugby World Cup were dealt a huge blow after a hefty 55-6 loss to Namibia in Windhoek on Saturday.
John Duncan's charges barely got a thing right as they were properly pummelled in their opening game of the Rugby Africa Gold Cup.
James Ijongat scored the Cranes' only points of the day from his boot while Lawrence Ssebuliba was stretchered off early in the game with an injured arm.
Title favourites Namibia made their intentions of defending the Gold Cup clear in the one-sided encounter in front of their home fans.
The result was decided before the half-hour mark, the home side pouncing for their third and fourth tries when the visitors were in yellow card trouble.
They added five more tries in the second half to confirm a comfortable victory.
The tries started flowing as early as the 14th minute and Uganda were on the back foot for the remainder of the game.
Powerful flanker Janco Venter was unstoppable when touching down alongside the posts after 10 minutes, while JC Greyling supplied an equally efficient finish in the corner four minutes later.
Obert Nortje and captain Johan Deysel were some of the scorers for the defending champions.
At one point in the game, Saul Kivumbi and Arthur Mukama were both in the sin bin as Namibia pounced.
Ijongat's penalty 12 minutes into the second half was one of the few moments for Uganda in the half with the hosts in full control of proceedings.
Namibia were the big winners on the opening day as Zimbabwe were held to 23-all draw by newly promoted Morocco.
The home side had earlier enjoyed a promising 14-3 first-half advantage, a brace of tries from fleet-footed full-back Shingirai Katsvere putting them in a strong position after 29 minutes.
Morocco then bounced back and were on the verge of registering a remarkable away win in Harare.
Quadri Karim's try was converted for Morocco to lead but the hosts levelled matters to avoid defeat on the opening day of the competition.
Uganda's next game will be against the Kenya Simbas in Nairobi on July 7. The fixture will also double as the second leg of this year's Elgon Cup which Kenya is leading 34-16.
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