Welwitschias take on mighty Province

THE Welwitschias face their toughest assignment in the Currie Cup qualifying campaign when they host the log-leaders Western Province at the Hage Geingob Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Western Province lead the log on 56 points, after winning 12 of their 13 matches, while the Welwitschias are bottom of the log on only one point, after losing all 13 their matches.

Western Province had an inauspicious start to the competition and went down to fifth on the log when they lost 24-16 to the Sharks on 7 May, but since then they went on an unbeaten run of nine matches, beating the early log leader Griquas 24-23 in the process in Round 7 of the competition on 28 May.

WP grew in stature and continued to post impressive results, beating the Valke 59-31 and SWD 45-17 amongst others, and when they beat Border 52-26 last weekend, they replaced Griquas at the top of the log on points difference.

Both teams are on 56 points, but Province have a slightly better points aggregate.

But with a match against the hapless Welwitschias in store on Saturday, while Griquas will face a tough away game against the Leopards in Potchefstroom on Friday night, Province are hot favourites to finish at the top of the log and win the Currie Cup Qualifying competition.

Besides the battle for the top position, there will also be a battle to finish amongst the top nine teams this weekend, that will qualify for the Currie Cup Premier Division in the second round of the competition. The bottom six will contest the Currie Cup First Division, with both competitions starting on 5 August and continuing till 15 October.

The Welwitschias have had a baptism of fire in the competition, losing by some cricket scores along the way. They twice lost by more than 100 points against the Griffons and Boland, while SWD (96-5) and the Blue Bulls (95-12) also came close to century scores.

They have conceded 865 points and only scored 164, at an average score of 66-12 per match, and only obtained one bonus point to trail well behind the rest of the pack, with 14th placed Eastern Province Kings on 12 points.

Namibian head coach Phil Davies was, however, not too perturbed about the results to date.

“The Currie Cup is a strong competition and even some professional teams have been losing by 75 or 80 points. We’ve got a mainly amateur team, so we are here to learn and to try and create a semi-professional environment. It doesn’t come overnight, it takes time, but in three or four years time, the processes that we are going through now will have a massive impact,” he said.

“With the club game developing and participation in the Gold Cup and Currie Cup, it’s a massive opportunity for our local players to improve their game. With the youngsters at the Craven Week as well, our selection base is growing well,” he added.

There are several changes in the Welwitschias team, with some players from the national side that beat Kenya 56-21 last Saturday, released for the match.

They include winger Russell van Wyk who started against Kenya; and props Quintin Esterhuizen and Collen Smith, eighthman Leneve Damens and centre Heinrich Smit, who all came on as second half substitutes against Kenya.

Damens will captain the team, which also includes other experienced campaigners like Morne Blom and Justin Nel, but the majority are young players who made their debuts in the Currie Cup campaign this year.

The Welwitschias squad is as follows:

Quintin Esterhuizen, Petri Burger, Collen Smith, Muniovita Kasiringua, Wickus Davis, Johan Luttig, Morne Blom, Leneve Damens (captain), JC Winkler, Mahco Prinsloo, Phillip Nashikaku, Heinrich Smit, Handre Bezuidenhout, Russell van Wyk and Justin Nel.

Substitutes: Niel van Vuuren, Schalk Bergh, Max Katjijeko, Johan Wohler, Cameron Klassen, Lesley Klim and Shawn Kaizemi.

The match will start at 15h00 tomorrow and will be preceded by several curtain-raiser matches including schools and women’s rugby matches.

The Namibian Premier League is also reaching its end with the final group matches to be played this weekend.

United host Rehoboth at Trustco United Park on Friday night, while on Saturday, Walvis Bay host Wanderers, Unam host Kudus and Reho Falcon host Western Suburbs.

There will however not be much riding on the results, as Wanderers, Unam, Western Suburbs and United have already qualified for the semifinals.

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