THE Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) will hold national trials tomorrow to prepare for a friendly series against Zimbabwe next month and the Africa Cup in July.
The chief executive officer of the NRU, Theo Grünewaldt, on Wednesday confirmed the news, saying they had secured two friendly matches against Zimbabwe, which will serve as a preparation for Namibia’s Africa Cup matches against the Ivory Coast and Madagascar in July.
“We have organised two friendly matches against Zimbabwe home and away, with the first one on 12 June taking place in Harare, and the second one on 19 June in Windhoek. Saturday’s trials will be in preparation for these matches, as well as Pool A of the Africa Cup, which Namibia will host at the beginning of July,” he said.
Namibia will host Madagascar and the Ivory Coast in Pool A of the Africa Cup, with Namibia taking on the Ivory Coast on 3 July, and Madagascar on 10 July, while the Ivory Coast and Madagascar play each other on 7 July.
The top two teams will then progress to the next round of the Africa Cup in 2022, along with the top two of four other regional tournaments, which will also serve as the final qualifying tournament for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Namibia’s team manager Irvin Newman on Wednesday said they had invited about 60 players to the trials, representing players from all the Premier League clubs in the country. They include players from Grootfontein Rugby Club, Kudus at Walvis Bay, Rehoboth Rugby Club and Reho Falcon at Rehoboth, and Windhoek-based clubs Unam, United, Western Suburbs and Wanderers.
Several students studying in South Africa or who are members of rugby academies there will also fly to Windhoek for the trials.
Grünewaldt added that an under-20 friendly match had also been organised against Zimbabwe, in preparation for the Barthes Africa Cup in Kenya from 26 June to 4 July.
The Namibian squad of 25 players for the Barthes Cup was announced on Wednesday after final trial matches last weekend against Wanderers and Rehoboth. A further six players were also selected as non-travelling reserves, who could be called up in case any player is injured before departure.
The Namibia u20 squad consists of 12 players from Khomas, four from Otjozondjupa, three from //Kharas, and two each from Hardap, Kunene and Erongo regions.
The squad is as follows:
Ernst Lowe, Herschell van Wyk, Jano Otto, Zander Bronckhorst, Riaan Grove, Dhale Cloete, Rowan Jansen, Tyrese de Wee, Raschano van Rooi, Geraldo Beukes, Willem Louw, Franklin Karigub (all Khomas); Frederik Engelbrecht, Friedrich Grobbelaar, William Otto and Kian Fransman (Otjozondjupa); Oela Blaauw, Samuel Poulton and Kenan Walters (//Kharas); Feliciano Mauha, Niel Holtzhausen (Kunene); Brian Bayer, Jeandre Loubser (Hardap); and Tiaan de Klerk and Alexander Jansen (Erongo).
The non-travelling reserves are Upahee Muhuura, Riaan van Zyl and Maandero Haimbodi (Khomas), Harry Ngasia (Otjozondjupa), and Vihan Scholtz and Wilmar du Toit (SA).
