It might not have been as cataclysmic a result as Japan's against South Africa, but Namibia certainly proved a point or two against the champions and the best team in the world – New Zealand – in their 2015 Rugby World Cup Pool C match in London.

Not given even the remotest of prayers, Namibia fought hard and showed some physicality against the intimidating All Blacks, before eventually succumbing by a 58-14 scoreline.

Also Read

What stood out was the fact that Namibia, the lowed-ranked team at this World Cup, did not look overawed by what was their biggest match to date, and New Zealand coach Steven Hansen only had praise for the Namibians and their performance against the All Blacks.

"I am really happy for Namibia, they are a good bunch of guys and I thought they acquitted themselves commendably," Hansen said. "When they got tired near the end of the game it became quite messy, that is what you expect, but early in the game they committed themselves totally to the breakdown and the tackle and they should be really proud of themselves.

"They were worthy opponents. They gave everything they could give."

This was another could-have-been-a-lot-better performance by New Zealand, who needed a last-20-minutes-surge against Argentina to pull away. The stop-start nature of the contest was not to Hansen's liking.

"We have got to deal with it better than we did," Hansen added. "At one stage it took four minutes to have a scrum. I'm not sure how to deal with it, but we have to find a way."

"We have said that right from the beginning that if someone commits foul play we need to know about it. But you would like it to be sped up a little bit if they can."

While the overall performance of Namibia was commendable, the most memorable moment came when they scored a try against the All Blacks, with Johan Deysel, the son of former Namibian centre Johan Deysel Sr., the man to make that historic try.

"Dad's here and he'll be very proud. He might have scored some tries but he never played against the All Blacks," Deysel said with a smile.