U-19 rugby side was ill prepared

NAMIBIAN under-19 rugby team manager Gabriel Tjombe believes that the country’s players need proper preparation ahead of international matches to produce the desired results.

Tjombe told The Namibian in an interview yesterday that the under-19 rugby side that recently competed in Dubai lacked the necessary preparation for the tournament and as a result produced poor results. The team arrived back from Dubai yesterday.They won only three of their five matches and failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Under-19 Rugby World Cup after losing two crucial matches and failing to obtain a bonus point.Tjombe said the other teams clearly looked better prepared and played with a lot of confidence, while Namibia was “the lightest country in terms of the weight of the players” at the tournament.”The national team needs at least four to six months’ preparation before going into such world events.We cannot afford to sacrifice the talent and skill that our players have because of poor preparations,” he said.The under-19 side had little time to train before they departed for Dubai late last month for the tournament that featured 20 countries.The youngsters of the rugby world power Australia scooped the title for the first time in their history by narrowly beating New Zealand 13-17 in the final on Friday.Namibia had about a month to get ready for the tournament, and Tjombe believes that not enough time was devoted to the physical training of the players.None of them attended any sessions at the gymnasium, he said.”The other countries had much bigger players because they spent hours in the gym and were fiter overall.We need to encourage that among our players as we cannot afford to lose the games that matter each time we compete,” he said.He said Namibia lost the important matches against Canada and Georgia that could see them through to the knockout stage, but produced stunning victories over Korea and Chinese Taipei.Namibia lost 29-10 in their opening match against Canada, before going down 14-6 in their second match against Georgia.They rose to the occasion and beat Chile 14-6, but had an even better score line against Korea when they thumped them 51-5.They concluded their tour with a whopping 57-10 victory over the hapless Chinese Taipei last Thursday before returning home.The Namibians will now be required to qualify from scratch in June when the qualifiers will be held in Morocco.If they had obtained a bonus point, they could have had automatic qualification in Pool B.Tjombe said money problems hampered the preparations of the national teams in general.He urged the corporate world to assist in the development of the game, as Namibia possesses quality rugby players who can win matches if given the right coaching and preparation for international events.Namibia ended ninth overall in Pool B, which had 12 teams, and obtained a total of 138 points overall in the Dubai tournament.South Africa delivered a much worse performance, as they won only one of their five matches in Pool A, giving them 14th place overall with 93 points.The team arrived back from Dubai yesterday.They won only three of their five matches and failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Under-19 Rugby World Cup after losing two crucial matches and failing to obtain a bonus point.Tjombe said the other teams clearly looked better prepared and played with a lot of confidence, while Namibia was “the lightest country in terms of the weight of the players” at the tournament.”The national team needs at least four to six months’ preparation before going into such world events.We cannot afford to sacrifice the talent and skill that our players have because of poor preparations,” he said.The under-19 side had little time to train before they departed for Dubai late last month for the tournament that featured 20 countries.The youngsters of the rugby world power Australia scooped the title for the first time in their history by narrowly beating New Zealand 13-17 in the final on Friday.Namibia had about a month to get ready for the tournament, and Tjombe believes that not enough time was devoted to the physical training of the players.None of them attended any sessions at the gymnasium, he said.”The other countries had much bigger players because they spent hours in the gym and were fiter overall.We need to encourage that among our players as we cannot afford to lose the games that matter each time we compete,” he said.He said Namibia lost the important matches against Canada and Georgia that could see them through to the knockout stage, but produced stunning victories over Korea and Chinese Taipei.Namibia lost 29-10 in their opening match against Canada, before going down 14-6 in their second match against Georgia.They rose to the occasion and beat Chile 14-6, but had an even better score line against Korea when they thumped them 51-5.They concluded their tour with a whopping 57-10 victory over the hapless Chinese Taipei last Thursday before returning home.The Namibians will now be required to qualify from scratch in June when the qualifiers will be held in Morocco.If they had obtained a bonus point, they could have had automatic qualification in Pool B.Tjombe said money problems hampered the preparations of the national teams in general.He urged the corporate world to assist in the development of the game, as Namibia possesses quality rugby players who can win matches if given the right coaching and preparation for international events.Namibia ended ninth overall in Pool B, which had 12 teams, and obtained a total of 138 points overall in the Dubai tournament.South Africa delivered a much worse performance, as they won only one of their five matches in Pool A, giving them 14th place overall with 93 points.