Namibia confident ahead of Zimbabwe clash 

Namibia take on Zimbabwe in the semifinals of the Rugby Africa Cup in Kampala, Uganda today in confident mood and with history on their side.

Namibia have by far the better record against Zimbabwe, having won 30 of their 33 encounters to date, at an average points aggregate of 37-20 per match, while Namibia also have a much better record in the Africa Cup, having won the title nine times compared to Zimbabwe’s solitary success in 2012.

Neither side looked very impressive in their first round victories on Saturday, with Namibia beating Burkina Faso 38-5 after leading 14-0 at halftime, while  Zimbabwe just managed to edge out Uganda 22-20, after leading 22-0 at half time.

Namibia coach Allister Coetzee on Monday acknowledged that they were not very good against Burkia Faso, but said that they had worked hard on rectifying their mistakes.

“I’m really pleased and satisfied with today’s training session and I think the players understand the importance of Wednesday’s semifinal against Zimbabwe. We weren’t really sharp against Burkina Faso, we were a bit flat and very sluggish, and we didn’t look after the ball properly.  It’s also a matter of adapting to conditions here, it’s very humid and the ball becomes a bit slippery, but we’ve addressed these things and trained well and we are looking forward to the match against Zimbabwe,” he said.

Coetzee said he was expecting a strong physical onslaught from Zimbabwe. 

“They are a good side with experienced players in their team – they are good in the set-pieces so our whole approach will be to win the collisions. We will have to be at our most physical, especially around the contact areas at the breakdown, that’s where the challenge will be, but we’ve really planned well and we had a good session today,” he said.

Coetzee said that they did not have any major injury concerns and should be at full strength. 

“Fortunately we came through the Burkina Faso game without any injuries –  we’ve got two players who are being treated for a bit of influenza, but it looks like it’s getting better so hopefully they will be back at training again. Other than that we’ve got a clean bill of health, so we are ready for the match against Zimbabwe,” he said.

Zimbabwe, meanwhile, are also in confident mood, according to their coach Piet Benade.

“Only months ago Namibia were playing the likes of the All Blacks and France in a World Cup, so they are well prepared and battle-hardened at this level, so it will be a big job to match their intensity and accuracy at Test level. However, we are confident we can put on a good show against our regional rivals and mount a tough fight for a spot in the final,” he was quoted as saying by sportscast.co.zw.

Regarding their late escape against Uganda, Benade preferred to focus on the positives, and especially their first half performance. 

“It was a great start, and we needed it playing with a strong wind behind us. Building up a lead was always going to be important, as we knew the second-half field position would come less easily,” he said. 

“We performed extremely well and showed what we are capable of as a group, even though this was our first tough test against a very strong and motivated Ugandan side. Our big players showed their quality. We also had some locally-based boys putting up their hands, which was great to see, that the effort and investment we have put in back home in the locals have put us in a good space going forward,” he added.

Namibia’s match against Zimbabwe starts at 16h00 in Kampala today (15h00 Namibian time) and will be preceded by the first semifinal between Kenya and Algeria at 14h00 (13h00 Nambian time).