Sevens hailed a success

NAMIBIAN Sevens rugby coach Christo Alexander was not surprised that his side made it through the Plate final of the Trustco Sevens Rugby Tournament in Windhoek last weekend.

He also hailed the tournament as a huge success after it attracted 12 teams who competed fiercely for the coveted titles.He said despite setting themselves a target of at least making it to the quarter-finals of the competition, they realised that they had what it takes to push them through to the finals of the Plate division.Namibia beat Samoa 24-14 to lift their first ever Sevens title on home soil, while South Africa’s Springboks won the main final when they demolished Zimbabwe 61-14 in their match.Alexander says despite the great run by the Namibians, who along the way brushed aside Tunisia and Spain, they still have a lot of work to do before becoming a strong unit that can compete against the best in the sport.’We still have a whole lot of work to do. I have expanded the group to 24 players now for our team and we will trim them to only 12 players when we intend to compete in upcoming international events,’ he said. He said Namibia hopes to compete in South Africa and again in Singapore on the Sevens circuit and in order to be able to compete favourably, they still have to do some fine-tuning in various areas.Alexander considers gym sessions as an important aspect that the team needs to concentrate on.The Namibians showed great handling skills and their pace was unquestionable, but lacked a bit of physicality, compared to some sides which boasts with more sturdy but mobile players at the same time.POOR REFEREEINGDespite the successful run of the Namibians who took a lap of honour after their victory, Alexander was not impressed with the refereeing standards throughout the tournament.He said there were several dubious decisions that went against them and also against other teams and suggested that the organisers bring in top-quality referees who can take charge.’I think next time we need to approach the International Rugby Board (IRB) to be provided with top referees to handle these matches. I was not entirely happy with some of the decisions and I think the referees were generally poor. I am sure we can address that problem next time around,’ he said. The tournament was brought into life through a N$3 million sponsorship by Trustco Namibia and was sanctioned by the IRB.It is anticipated that it will continue for the next five years, with Trustco Namibia having committed N$18 million to the cause. The competing teams this year were hosts Namibia, South Africa, Fiji, Argentina, Spain, Botswana, Samoa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Tunisia, Portugal and Zambia. corry@namibian.com.na