Wacca to play in England

SOLIHULL in Birmingham is where Namibian player Uakazuvaka Kazombiaze will be playing for the next six months.

The second-division club in England has signed the big lock forward on a six-month contract. The player could feature for the club in a league game in Birmingham as early as this weekend.The 28-year-old lock, who was the first black Namibian player to go to the Rugby World Cup and play all four games, said he could not believe it when national team coach Hakkies Husselman told him that there was an English team requiring the services of a lock and he was the main candidate up for selection.”I was shocked and amazed.I could not believe it,” he said.Western Suburbs coach Johan Diergaardt, where Kazombiaze turns out in the premiership division, describes this opportunity as a fitting achievement for someone who has come along way since he started playing for the club four years ago.”Wacca is a professional, he has always been committed and has developed mentally very quick due to his determination and hard work on and off the field,” said Diergaardt.He said in countries like South Africa, losing a player to an overseas club is considered a loss, but in a country like Namibia with a small domestic league, it is a way of developing rugby.”The player will gain experience that is invaluable to a nation as small as ours,” he said.Kazombiaze, who was this year nominated for the Namibian Sportsman of the Year award, had previously been linked to a contract to play in Romania.But he said after weighing his options, the England contract was more suitable because of the type of game played in England.”The English play a game centred on their forwards and have mastered it.I wish to learn from them and this contract has granted me that opportunity,” said Kazombiaze.The big lock, who won the Western Suburbs Rugby Club Player of the Year award over the weekend, leaves for England today.The player could feature for the club in a league game in Birmingham as early as this weekend.The 28-year-old lock, who was the first black Namibian player to go to the Rugby World Cup and play all four games, said he could not believe it when national team coach Hakkies Husselman told him that there was an English team requiring the services of a lock and he was the main candidate up for selection.”I was shocked and amazed.I could not believe it,” he said.Western Suburbs coach Johan Diergaardt, where Kazombiaze turns out in the premiership division, describes this opportunity as a fitting achievement for someone who has come along way since he started playing for the club four years ago.”Wacca is a professional, he has always been committed and has developed mentally very quick due to his determination and hard work on and off the field,” said Diergaardt.He said in countries like South Africa, losing a player to an overseas club is considered a loss, but in a country like Namibia with a small domestic league, it is a way of developing rugby.”The player will gain experience that is invaluable to a nation as small as ours,” he said.Kazombiaze, who was this year nominated for the Namibian Sportsman of the Year award, had previously been linked to a contract to play in Romania.But he said after weighing his options, the England contract was more suitable because of the type of game played in England.”The English play a game centred on their forwards and have mastered it.I wish to learn from them and this contract has granted me that opportunity,” said Kazombiaze.The big lock, who won the Western Suburbs Rugby Club Player of the Year award over the weekend, leaves for England today.