Rugby juniors get royal send off

By: Helge Schutz

THE Namibian Under 20 rugby team was given a worthy farewell on Wednesday evening before it leaves for Chile later this month to compete in the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy competition for the first time in four years.

Zimbabwe had represented Africa for the past three years, but Namibia reclaimed their position as Africa’s best country after South Africa when they beat Zimbabwe in the African qualifying final last year to book their ticket to Chile.
The president of the Namibia Rugby Union, Bradley Basson called on the players to do their best for their country.
“You young men must make your country proud. After three years of defeat to Zimbabwe, you will now represent Namibia at the Junior World Rugby Trophy, but the challenge in Chile will be much bigger than before. You will face Italy, Portugal and Chile, countries that have invested heavily in their U20 teams,” he said.
“When you are on the field, be ambassadors for your country and show character for that jersey. And remember to remain disciplined - if you get a yellow or red card, you will let the whole team down,” he added.
Piet du Plooy, the Sports Commissioner responsible for rugby called on the team to compete and not just to participate.
“You must go to compete, we are not just there to participate. We cannot continue like we did in the past when Namibia won either the best spirit or best dressed team award,” he said.
“To the coaching team - this tournament is about winning, so remember to field the best team at all stages to win the game,” he added.
The Director of Sport, Dr Vetumbuavi Veii congratulated Basson and the NRU executive committee for putting rugby back on track.
“The NRU was going the wrong way. When we came back from the 2011 World Cup it was not going well, but I think Mr Basson and his executive are really putting our rugby back on the right track,” he said.
“Thanks to the sponsors, because public funds are never enough. Our sport budget is small and sport always plays second fiddle,” he added.
Dr Veii however added that success did not just depend on money.
“I’ve been to Cuba where they have zero facilities but they do well through patriotism, will and commitment, so you have to be committed,” he said.
“You are under pressure to win, yes, we want that, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Go and give it your best shot because these people worked very hard to give you that opportunity,” he added. Basson said that Namibia lost its best players to South Africa due to a lack of funding, but that they would not stand in the way of young players who were offered contracts abroad.
“We wont force players to play for their country, it must be an issue of national pride. We also don’t have the resources, so why should we deprive our youngsters if they get better contracts elsewhere.”
He however said that the Welwitschias’ recent 92-27 defeat against South Africa U20, would never have happened if they had more players to choose from.
“Was it necessary to lose 92-27 to SA U20? - no, definitely not. If you look at the number of players eligible for Namibia, if they were willing to play that would never have happened. We don’t need to be the laughing stock of African rugby. Namibia certainly has the quality of players to beat any team on any given day,” he said.
“We work on a N$5 to N$10 million annual budget. Compare that to South Africa who have a budget of R800 million per year, so with regards to funding the two teams are not comparable,” he added.

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