In big games you need your players to stand up, and Namibia's men did plenty of that on Sunday evening in France as they defeated Kenya 36-0 to win the Rugby Africa Cup 2022.

And, more importantly, the result in Aix-en-Provence means that Namibia have qualified for a seventh straight Rugby World Cup, a run that started in 1999.

They will be in Pool A at Rugby World Cup 2023 and can start looking forward to matches against Italy, New Zealand, France and Uruguay next September.

As the action unfolded

In the here and now, the job at the weekend was simply to get a win at the Stade Maurice-David - and The Welwitschias did just that.

Wian Conradie, the back-row, led the way with three tries and Kenya just could not stop him when he got on the ball and on the front foot.

Full-back Divan Rossouw was also impressive and was later named Player of the Match while it was very fitting that skipper Johan Deysel bagged the last try just before the final whistle after being set up by replacement scrum-half TC Kisting.

When you are favourites for a tournament and a final it can sometimes weigh on players' minds, but Namibia showed a calmness here and head coach Allister Coetzee must take credit for that.

“We are obviously overwhelmed because it is never easy to assume your status [as favourites],” Coetzee said after the match. “Mission completed," he concluded.

Looking ahead to the Final Qualification Tournament

Kenya were not at their best here, but they were not allowed to be, and their mission goes on.

The Simbas will now have to dust themselves down ahead of the Final Qualification Tournament in November of this year, their last chance to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2023.

In terms of the placings games in the Rugby Africa Cup 2022, Algeria, who had lost to Kenya in the last four earlier in the week, managed to secure third place.

They battled hard to defeat Zimbabwe and it certainly gives Algeria something to build on going forwards given that the national team is still pretty new in that country.

Uganda took fifth place after an even closer match with Ivory Coast before coming out on top 18-17.

And Senegal finished in seventh place as they and Burkina Faso shared 74 points in a cracking 80 minutes before the former came out on top 44-30.