Sables remain in hunt

Sport
A defensive bonus point gained by Zimbabwe in their 20-24 defeat at the hands of a resurgent Namibia keeps their hopes of winning the 2014 Africa Cup alive,

ANTANANARIVO — A defensive bonus point gained by Zimbabwe in their 20-24 defeat at the hands of a resurgent Namibia keeps their hopes of winning the 2014 Africa Cup alive, should they be able to defeat the so-far invincible Kenya, who scored six tries in their comprehensive 34-0 defeat of hosts Madagascar.

Kenya currently top the table of the 2014 CAR tournament with 10 points, from two wins plus two offensive bonus points (four tries against Namibia and six tries against Madagascar) followed by Zimbabwe with six points, (four points for a win against Madagascar and two bonus points, one offensive for the seven tries scored against Les Makis and one defensive for losing by less than seven points to Namibia).

Third is Namibia with five points, (four points for their win against Zimbabwe and one defensive bonus point for losing by seven points to Kenya in round one). There are several scenarios for the final day, depending not only on who wins the final matches Kenya v Zimbabwe and Namibia v Madagascar but also by how many tries and if defeated by what margin.

  •  If Kenya defeat Zimbabwe, with or without bonus point, they will top the table and qualify for the RWC 2015,
  • A draw without bonus points will also see Kenya through with 12 points,
  • Should Zimbabwe defeat Kenya with a bonus point (score four tries or more) they total 11 points and win the 2014 Africa Cup tournament and the coveted RWC 2015

Africa Zone position in Pool C of RWC 2015,

  •   Should Zimbabwe defeat Kenya without a bonus point they will total 10 points and that might not be enough to win them the tournament, depending on the outcome of the match between Namibia and Madagascar,
  • Should Kenya lose to Zimbabwe by less than seven points, having scored four or more tries in the process, (two bonus points) they total 12 points and win the tournament.
  • If Namibia defeat Madagascar by more than four tries, they will amass 10 points, which might still be enough to win them the tournament, should Zimbabwe defeat Kenya without a bonus point. That means that there will be three teams Kenya, Zimbabwe and Namibia with the same number of points (10).

a) In this case the team with the biggest difference between the points scored and the points scored against is the winner, b) Should this not be enough, the second criterion is try difference — between tries scored and tries scored against, c) Should this fail as well, then the team who scored the biggest number of points is declared champion, d) Should this not be enough, then the team who scored most tries in the tournament is the winner, e) Finally, should this still not be enough, the team that had highest position in the IRB rankings at the beginning of the tournament (June 26) wins the tournament.

— IRB