Rugby World Cup

SANDY PARK, Exeter -- Exeter played host to its first Rugby World Cup match on Tuesday with Tonga and Namibia treating the capacity crowd to an afternoon of record-breaking try scoring.

The Pacific Islanders left Sandy Park as victors, securing a 35-21 win over their Pool C rivals on the south Devon coast, and by touching down for five tries bettered their previous record of four against the Ivory Coast back in 1995.

And while the defeat leaves Namibia still searching for their first World Cup win in 16 attempts, they also broke their try-scoring mark. The Welwitschias crossed the whitewash three times to overhaul their previous best of two, a feat they managed on five occasions.

Namibia head coach Phil Davies was understandably frustrated in his postmatch press conference, but admitted the record try-haul was at least a psychological boost for squad ahead of their next clash with Georgia.

"It's a good stat," Davies said. "We've been doing a lot of work on our scrum but today it wasn't where it needed to be. But our lineout was a good part of the game and our attacking ability to move the ball around the field was pleasing.

"It's the consistency of how we do things that's the key to look at. We need to be able to convert our opportunities, we need to be able to defence, not just the first phase but for sustained periods of the game. We need to continue to work on the basics of our game."

Bettering the three scores of Namibia - which came in the form of one from Johan Tromp and a double from skipper Jacques Burger - were a Tonga side determined to rebound from the shock defeat by Georgia in their opening fixture.

They dominated Namibia from the start and, despite lacking the odd moment of quality in a hard-fought encounter, ran in five tries via Latiume Fosita, and doubles for Jack Ram and Telusa Veainu.

Johan Tromp of Namibia goes over for a try© Stu Forster/Getty Images

"I am happy with the outcome of the game but in terms of performance and goals we know we've left a lot of points out there on the field," Tonga head coach Mana Otai said. "We could have finished another five of those [try opportunities] off.

"Credit must be given to Namibia for how they played and how they reacted to us. Our kicking was an area in which we left a few points out there, so we're going to have to keep working on it. Given the short turnaround, there's not much more you can do in terms of extra kicking, but it's a combination of a tweaks."

Namibia captain Burger might have cropped up with two scores, the second of which was almost a carbon copy of the first as he barged over from the back of a maul in the left corner, but admitted he would trade in the personal achievements for a single team victory.

"I saw the third one coming, it was so close," Burger joked. "I don't score many so when I do score it's quite a good feeling, but I can't really claim those two [tries]. They were forwards' tries, I was just at the back of it.

"It's great to get those tries, but I'd swap them any time for a win."