Under-18s up to task: Jantjies

NAMIBIAN under-18 rugby coach Riaan Jantjies believes that his team will up to the task when they take on Uganda in their first CAR qualifying match of the 2006 Under-18 Rugby World Cup at the Hage Geingob Stadium tomorrow.

Namibia will now play Uganda after their initial opponents, Ivory Coast, pulled out of the tournament at the last minute. Jantjies, a former national team scrumhalf, told The Namibian Sport that although he has not seen any visual material of the opposition, his team aims to win the tournament.”We have prepared to win the tournament and nothing can stop us because we are playing on home turf.The concentration level of all the players is high and I don’t see any point why we cannot succeed to book a place for ourselves in next year’s World Cup,” he said.The World Cup will be played in Dubai next year.Namibia is grouped alongside Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe in Pool B, while South Africa, Madagascar, Tunisia and Morocco will be fighting it out in Group A.The two top-placed teams in each pool will play in the semi-finals on September 1, while the finals are billed for September 3.The bulk of the Namibian side’s key players are representing the Windhoek High School (WHS) on a school tour to Argentina.But Jantjies believes that the 24 players selected are also good enough to produce the desired results.”Although we have two injured players, we are ready to take on the challenge,” he said.He was echoed by his team manager, Gabriel Tjombe, who said that the technical staff have confidence in the current players because they are the best in the country at the moment.”The players in camp have the full backing of the coaching staff and the union and I don’t see why we cannot step up to the task,” he said.South Africa have already qualified for the World Cup and will not compete in the semi-finals, even if they win all their pool matches.The third-placed team in Pool A will play the semi-finals instead.The winner in the final of the tournament will play at the 2006 World Cup in the B Leg, but South Africa, who have already qualified, will play in the A Leg.In the first match starting at 11h00, South Africa will take on Madagascar, and will be followed by arch-rivals Tunisia and Morocco, who will try to outwit each other in what is expected to be a titanic affair.Zimbabwe and Kenya will take to the field in the next match in what is expected to be an evenly matched game, before Namibia take on Uganda, which is a relatively small rugby-playing nation.Jantjies, a former national team scrumhalf, told The Namibian Sport that although he has not seen any visual material of the opposition, his team aims to win the tournament.”We have prepared to win the tournament and nothing can stop us because we are playing on home turf.The concentration level of all the players is high and I don’t see any point why we cannot succeed to book a place for ourselves in next year’s World Cup,” he said.The World Cup will be played in Dubai next year.Namibia is grouped alongside Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe in Pool B, while South Africa, Madagascar, Tunisia and Morocco will be fighting it out in Group A.The two top-placed teams in each pool will play in the semi-finals on September 1, while the finals are billed for September 3.The bulk of the Namibian side’s key players are representing the Windhoek High School (WHS) on a school tour to Argentina.But Jantjies believes that the 24 players selected are also good enough to produce the desired results.”Although we have two injured players, we are ready to take on the challenge,” he said.He was echoed by his team manager, Gabriel Tjombe, who said that the technical staff have confidence in the current players because they are the best in the country at the moment.”The players in camp have the full backing of the coaching staff and the union and I don’t see why we cannot step up to the task,” he said.South Africa have already qualified for the World Cup and will not compete in the semi-finals, even if they win all their pool matches.The third-placed team in Pool A will play the semi-finals instead.The winner in the final of the tournament will play at the 2006 World Cup in the B Leg, but South Africa, who have already qualified, will play in the A Leg.In the first match starting at 11h00, South Africa will take on Madagascar, and will be followed by arch-rivals Tunisia and Morocco, who will try to outwit each other in what is expected to be a titanic affair.Zimbabwe and Kenya will take to the field in the next match in what is expected to be an evenly matched game, before Namibia take on Uganda, which is a relatively small rugby-playing nation.