Namibia take on potent Portugal 

The Namibian Welwitschias take on Portugal in their first home test match in six years at the Hage Geingob Stadum tomorrow afternoon. 

The last time Namibia played a test at home was when they beat Kenya 53-28 on 18 August 2018 to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in France, but a dearth of opportunities since then has also affected their performances on the field with the result that Portugal will go into the test as the favourites. 

Portugal are currently ranked 18th in the world, while Namibia are ranked 23rd – a gradual decline in recent years since they reached their highest ranking of 18th in 2017. 

In recent test matches Portugal have also posted the more impressive results. At last year’s Rugby World Cup they drew 18-18 against Georgia and then two weeks later made history when they beat Fiji 24-23 in a thriller to claim their first-ever world cup triumph. 

That was not enough to put them through to the knockout stages, but they served notice that they are one of the rising forces in world rugby. 

Namibia, on the other hand, had a disappointing world cup, losing 52-8 to Italy, 71-3 to New Zealand, 96-0 to France and 36-26 to Uruguay, and after qualifying seven successive times for the global showpiece between 1999 and 2023, they are still searching for that elusive first victory. 

Tomorrow’s match will be the ninth encounter between the two nations, with Namibia holding a historical 6-2 lead.

Shortly after Namibia’s independence in 1990, they thumped Portugal 86-9 in Windhoek, with former legendary captain and winger Gerhard Mans scoing six tries – an individual record which still remains till today.

The following year they beat Portugal 34-12 in Lisbon and in 1998 once again emerged victorious, 36-19, in Lisbon.

In the new millennium, however, contests between the two nations have been much closer. 

In 2009, Namibia edged Portugal 12-9 in Lisbon, but the following year, Portugal beat Namibia for the first time, recording a 24-12 victory in Lisbon. 

In 2011, Namibia beat Portugal 29-23 at the Nations Cup in Bucharest, but Portugal turned the tables three years later with a 29-20 victory in Lisbon. 

In their last test match in 2018, Namibia won another close encounter 29-23 in Coimbra. 

Five players remain from that squad – hooker Obert Nortje, lock Adriaan Ludick and flanker Max Katjiteo, who were in the starting 15, and prop Des Sethie and lock Ruan Ludick, who will once again start on the bench. 

Namibia coach Allister Coetzee has brought in a few newcomers like wing Quirione Majiedt, who will make his national debut and Armand Combrinck, Peter Diergaardt, AJ Kearns and Denzo Bruwer who are among the substitutes, but it is still a seasoned squad with 11 of the starting 15 having competed at last year’s world cup, as well as Sethie, who starts on the bench. 

Especially the forward pack is quite experienced, with only hooker Nortje not having been at last year’s world cup, and with players like captain Prince !Gaoseb, Katjijeko, Adriaan Booysen, Adriaan Ludick and Johan Retief in the pack, they should win their fare share of possession from the set pieces. 

Amongst the backs, the half-back pair of Jacques Theron and Tiaan Steenkamp, as well as the centre pair of Danco Burger and Alcino Izaacs remain from last year’s world cup, while Majiedt, Griquas fullback JC Nel and left wing Lloyd Jacobs are the newcomers. 

Namibia’s starting 15 shows 11 changes from the one that suffered a 92-8 defeat to the Blue Bulls a fortnight ago and Coetzee earlier this week said that they had learnt some valuable lessons and improved a lot since that drubbing. 

They should hold their own up front amongst the forwards, but Portugal might hold the edge amongst the backs, as they demonstrated in France last year with their thrilling counter-attacking style of play. 

Either way, it should be a fascinating encounter that could go down to the wire. 

The match starts at 15h00 tomorrow at the Hage Geingob National Rugby Stadium. Tickets are available online at eticket.my.na