Canada scrum-half Morgan Williams dives on the ball to score
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Matches: Canada 72 - 11 Namibia

Tournaments/Tours: Rugby World Cup

Teams: Canada | Namibia

Canada, determined to go home with at least one World Cup win, ended their Group C campaign with a 72-11 thrashing of Namibia in Toulouse tonight. The victory was a personal triumph for fly-half Gareth Rees who ended his fourth World Cup with a 100% record in kicks at goal and 49 points.

Rees and his side, whose hopes of making the quarter-final play-offs nosedived with Wales' defeat by Samoa earlier today, could feel proud of their display in which they ran in nine tries. But one sour note was the sending off of flanker Danny Baugh for stamping early in the second half.

The Africans, who themselves were fortunate to end with a full complement of players after Arthur Samuelson's deliberate high tackle led to hooker Mark Cardinal having to go off, reacted to Baugh's dismissal by scoring a try through captain Quinn Hough, his 10th try in 73 appearances. But the Canadians, who made the quarter-finals in 1991, dampened any hopes of a Namibian comeback by running in another try as a terrible foul-up in the Africans defence led to Kyle Nicholls running in his second touch down.

However, it was replacement full-back Bobby Ross who scored their best try, finishing off a seven-man move with a spectacular catch from Winston Stanley's flicked-on pass. Stanley added another minutes later and Rod Snow got his second of the evening on full-time with Stanley running in a final try in injury-time.

Namibia's player of the tournament Leandre van Dyk had opened the score with a third-minute penalty but Canada hit back as their find of the competition, scrum-half Morgan Williams, burrowed over from five metres out for his third try in the group stages. The Africans self-destructed two minutes later as fullback Glovin van Wyk's pass was intercepted by centre Nicholls who raced away to touch down under the posts.

The 32-year-old Rees, playing probably his swansong match in the World Cup, and van Dyk exchanged penalties before Canadian veteran Al Charron beat two tackles to get their third try and his seventh in 54 appearances for his country.