Namibian rugby drops in rankings

NAMIBIA has dropped one position down to 24th on the world rankings, following their 24-16 loss to Georgia at the International Rugby Board’s Nations Cup tournament last week.

The defeat sees Namibia being overtaken by Chile, who are now ranked 23rd on 59,27 points, while Namibia are 24th on 58,96 points. Georgia’s victory not only gave them a psychological edge over Namibia, as the two countries will meet again during the group phases of the World Cup, but also saw Georgia climbing one position to 16th in the world on 66,38 points.They replace Japan, who move down to 17th position on 66,34 points.SECOND IN AFRICA Namibia is still the second-ranked African nation on the IRB World Rankings.South Africa, who are ranked fourth in the world with 85,13 points is the top ranked African nation.Morocco is the third-ranked African nation at 27th in the world on 55,67 points, followed by Tunisia (32nd on 52,65 points), the Ivory Coast (41st on 48,91 points), Madagascar (43rd on 47,95 points), Uganda (44th on 47,77 points) and Kenya (45th on 47,43 points).The former African powerhouses, Zimbabwe, who participated at the 1991 Rugby World Cup finals, have tumbled down the world rankings and are now only 52nd on 45,51 points.New Zealand remain the top ranked nation in the world with 94,59 points.Their dominance was aptly demonstrated when they thrashed the second-ranked France by a record score between the two nations of 61-10 on June 9.France are second, followed by Australia, South Africa and Ireland.The rest of the top ten nations consist of Argentina, England, Wales, Italy and Samoa.Meanwhile, the IRB reports that Namibia and the Emerging Springboks took the day off from training and rather opted to go sightseeing.Both teams travelled to the mountains, with Namibia going to Bran, the so-called Dracula Castle, while the South Africans went to Sinaia, where they visited the Royal Castle, Peles.Argentina A spent the morning in the gym, while Georgia, Romania and Italy went through the motions of what appeared vigorous, but seemingly enjoyable fitness sessions on the two training pitches.Namibia are currently bottom of the group with no points from two matches.The Emerging Springboks lead the log on 9 points, followed by Argentina A on 9, Georgia and Romania on 4 and Italy A on 1.Namibia’s final match is against Romania on June 16.TOURNEY STATS * 198 – total number of players and officials in the tournament .* Heaviest player – Namibian prop Marius Visser – 140 kg * Tallest player – 23-year-old Nico Esterhuise of Namibia – 2,05 metres * Shortest player – Heini Bock of Namibia – 1,61 metres.www.namibiasport.com.na and IRB websiteGeorgia’s victory not only gave them a psychological edge over Namibia, as the two countries will meet again during the group phases of the World Cup, but also saw Georgia climbing one position to 16th in the world on 66,38 points.They replace Japan, who move down to 17th position on 66,34 points.SECOND IN AFRICA Namibia is still the second-ranked African nation on the IRB World Rankings.South Africa, who are ranked fourth in the world with 85,13 points is the top ranked African nation.Morocco is the third-ranked African nation at 27th in the world on 55,67 points, followed by Tunisia (32nd on 52,65 points), the Ivory Coast (41st on 48,91 points), Madagascar (43rd on 47,95 points), Uganda (44th on 47,77 points) and Kenya (45th on 47,43 points).The former African powerhouses, Zimbabwe, who participated at the 1991 Rugby World Cup finals, have tumbled down the world rankings and are now only 52nd on 45,51 points.New Zealand remain the top ranked nation in the world with 94,59 points.Their dominance was aptly demonstrated when they thrashed the second-ranked France by a record score between the two nations of 61-10 on June 9.France are second, followed by Australia, South Africa and Ireland.The rest of the top ten nations consist of Argentina, England, Wales, Italy and Samoa.Meanwhile, the IRB reports that Namibia and the Emerging Springboks took the day off from training and rather opted to go sightseeing.Both teams travelled to the mountains, with Namibia going to Bran, the so-called Dracula Castle, while the South Africans went to Sinaia, where they visited the Royal Castle, Peles.Argentina A spent the morning in the gym, while Georgia, Romania and Italy went through the motions of what appeared vigorous, but seemingly enjoyable fitness sessions on the two training pitches.Namibia are currently bottom of the group with no points from two matches.The Emerging Springboks lead the log on 9 points, followed by Argentina A on 9, Georgia and Romania on 4 and Italy A on 1.Namibia’s final match is against Romania on June 16.TOURNEY STATS * 198 – total number of players and officials in the tournament .* Heaviest player – Namibian prop Marius Visser – 140 kg * Tallest player – 23-year-old Nico Esterhuise of Namibia – 2,05 metres * Shortest player – Heini Bock of Namibia – 1,61 metres.www.namibiasport.com.na and IRB website