Namibian rugby team gears for Zambia clash

THE Namibian rugby side will go into its encounter with Zambia on Saturday with renewed vigour after authorities addressed most of the players’ concerns.

The team which is expected to face Zambia in an Africa Cup match in Ndola, south of Zambia on Saturday, has been described as focused and well prepared despite the recent squabbles that threatened to derail the squad’s preparations. The Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) had to reverse its decision of accepting the resignations of both Danie and Gielie Vermeulen as coach and assistant coach of the national team last week.The NRU initially installed Jakkals Pretorius and Christo Alexander as the replacements for the Vermeulen brothers, but they (Pretorius and Alexander) were removed again, after the executive reached an agreement with the Vermeulens.The team was also left with no technical staff as most followed the two coaches, while there was also a debacle whether trials for the selection of the national side should be held or not.The trials later took place.At the moment, the NRU is currently having Eden Meyer as the acting Chief Executive Officer, after Nickey Bekker resigned, citing personal reasons.The newly appointed Team Manager, Sarel Losper, told The Namibian Sport yesterday that all these developments have not affected the preparations of the team so far.”We are on track and we are very happy with the preparations so far.We will have our last practice session tomorrow (Wednesday), before we depart on Thursday afternoon.We are absolutely not concerned at what happened in the past, as it is now under control,” he said.He said the players had responded well to training and that they were eager to meet their counterparts who are not regarded as a strong force in rugby among southern African countries.”We initially had a squad that we worked with before all this drama of changing the coaching staff, so we think we are still on course and we hope to come back with a good result,” said the former Namibian number eight.Asked about the problem areas they concentrated on at training, Losper confidently said they were not struggling in any area and their combinations had also worked out well so far.”Although we have seven players who will make their debuts on test level this weekend, we did not have areas we struggled with or that we had to work on time and and again to perfect,” he said.POWELL OUTNamibian captain Corne Powell has been ruled out of the tour to Zambia, while Jood Oppermann and Koos Agenbach have also been replaced by other players as they have now retired.Losper said Powell, who deputised Sean Further at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, cannot leave due to work commitments.He will be replaced by the young Roger Thompson of Western Suburbs, who will also be one of the new entrants into the senior side.Assistant coach Gielie Vermeulen said he was also happy with the way the players responded to the various tactics and methods of training.”I can tell you that the preparations went well and we are just looking forward to beat the Zambians,” he said.Vermeulen said they had resolved their problems with the NRU and was now looking ahead to an improved working relationship with the union bosses.Namibia will play their second match against Kenya towards the end of August.The squad: Robert Dedig, Ivan Gaya*, Cor van Tonder, Rene Kruger, Tom Gouws, Rheeder van Wyk*, Domingo Kamonga, JJ Husselman, Herman Lintvelt, Schalk van der Merwe, Jurie van Tonder, Pieter Rossouw*, Morne Schreuder, Rian van Wyk, Roger Thompson*, Du Preez Grobler, Jaco Kotze, Hendrik Meyer*, Neil Swanepoel, Ryan Witbooi*, Morris Kapitako and Jacques Burger*.* Did not play at Test level beforeThe Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) had to reverse its decision of accepting the resignations of both Danie and Gielie Vermeulen as coach and assistant coach of the national team last week.The NRU initially installed Jakkals Pretorius and Christo Alexander as the replacements for the Vermeulen brothers, but they (Pretorius and Alexander) were removed again, after the executive reached an agreement with the Vermeulens.The team was also left with no technical staff as most followed the two coaches, while there was also a debacle whether trials for the selection of the national side should be held or not.The trials later took place.At the moment, the NRU is currently having Eden Meyer as the acting Chief Executive Officer, after Nickey Bekker resigned, citing personal reasons.The newly appointed Team Manager, Sarel Losper, told The Namibian Sport yesterday that all these developments have not affected the preparations of the team so far.”We are on track and we are very happy with the preparations so far.We will have our last practice session tomorrow (Wednesday), before we depart on Thursday afternoon.We are absolutely not concerned at what happened in the past, as it is now under control,” he said.He said the players had responded well to training and that they were eager to meet their counterparts who are not regarded as a strong force in rugby among southern African countries.”We initially had a squad that we worked with before all this drama of changing the coaching staff, so we think we are still on course and we hope to come back with a good result,” said the former Namibian number eight.Asked about the problem areas they concentrated on at training, Losper confidently said they were not struggling in any area and their combinations had also worked out well so far.”Although we have seven players who will make their debuts on test level this weekend, we did not have areas we struggled with or that we had to work on time and and again to perfect,” he said.POWELL OUTNamibian captain Corne Powell has been ruled out of the tour to Zambia, while Jood Oppermann and Koos Agenbach have also been replaced by other players as they have now retired.Losper said Powell, who deputised Sean Further at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, cannot leave due to work commitments.He will be replaced by the young Roger Thompson of Western Suburbs, who will also be one of the new entrants into the senior side.Assistant coach Gielie Vermeulen said he was also happy with the way the players responded to the various tactics and methods of training.”I can tell you that the preparations went well and we are just looking forward to beat the Zambians,” he said.Vermeulen said they had resolved their problems with the NRU and was now looking ahead to an improved working relationship with the union bosses.Namibia will play their second match against Kenya towards the end of August.The squad: Robert Dedig, Ivan Gaya*, Cor van Tonder, Rene Kruger, Tom Gouws, Rheeder van Wyk*, Domingo Kamonga, JJ Husselman, Herman Lintvelt, Schalk van der Merwe, Jurie van Tonder, Pieter Rossouw*, Morne Schreuder, Rian van Wyk, Roger Thompson*, Du Preez Grobler, Jaco Kotze, Hendrik Meyer*, Neil Swanepoel, Ryan Witbooi*, Morris Kapitako and Jacques Burger*.* Did not play at Test level before