THE Windhoek Draught Welwitchias will turn out for the first time this season when they take on a Namibian Barbarians side at the Hage Geingob National Rugby Stadium on Wednesday night.
The match serves as preparation for the SuperSport Rugby Challenge which starts on 22 April, with the Welwitschias taking on the Falcons away in Kempton Park in their opening match.
Welwitschias coach Lyn Jones has named a strong 26-man squad that includes 12 national players, while eight players represented Namibia at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Most of the players represented the Welwitschias in the Currie Cup campaign last year, while the only newcomers are Wanderers’ prop forward Christo McNeish and their eighthman Adriaan Booysen.
Eugene Jantjies, who was earlier appointed as the Welwitschias captain, is unavailable due to injury, and according to Jones he didn’t want to take any chances with him.
“Eugene has got a shoulder injury and we didn’t want to rush him back into the team. We will continue to monitor his injury, but I’d say he’s got about a 70 percent chance of playing next weekend,” he said.
Jones said it was a very important match for both sides.
“It’s a very important match and the Barbarians have a very good side. A number of their players have played for the Welwitschias in the past while some have fallen out of favor with the selectors, so it’s also a good opportunity for them to prove themselves,” he said.
“We need to grow our pool of players for the Welwitschias and national squads so I hope more players will commit themselves to the national squad, while I also hope to discover more talent,” he said.
The Barbarians team includes seven players who have represented the Welwitschias or the national team in Wanderers’ hooker DG Wiese and lock Ruan Ludick; Unam flanker Renaud van Neel; Walvis Bay eighthman Joe Hermann; Unam wing Sylvano Beukes; and Western Suburbs scrum half JC Winckler and wing Russel van Wyk.
The rest of the players have caught the eye with good performances in the Premier League so far this season.
The squads are as follows:
Windhoek Draught Welwitschias:
Heinrich Smit, Lesley Klim, JC Greyling, Darryl de la Harpe, Gino Wilson, Theuns Kotze, Cameron Klassen, Leneve Damens, Thomasau Forbes, Rohan Kitshoff, Max Katjijeko, Muinjo Kasiringua, AJ de Klerk, Shaun du Preez, Christo McNeish.
Substitutes:
Aurelio Plato, David Philander, Francois Wiese, MP Pretorius, Enem Kritzinger, Andries Rossouw, Gerhard Lotter, Collen Smit, Denzil van Wyk, Mapisa Tjeriko and Adriaan Booysen.
Namibian Barbarians:
Forwards:
Desiderius Setie (Unam), TG Louw (Wanderers), Herman Grobler (Walvis Bay), Niel van Vuuren (United), DG Wiese (Wanderers), Grant Nash (Kudus), Uno Katjioungua (Western Suburbs), Winmar Rust (United), Wolfgang Rohl (Walvis Bay), Ruan Ludick (Wanderers), Werner Meyer (Rehoboth), Renaud van Neel (Unam), Cameron Langenhoven (Kudus), Freddy Puriza (Unam), Ryan Garoeb (Suburbs), Joe Hermann (Walvis Bay).
Backs:
Sunday Haitembu (Unam), JC Winckler (Suburbs), Dirk von Weidts (Walvis Bay), Rodney Coetzee (Unam), Camlo Martin (Unam), Cedric Haraseb (Walvis Bay), Milaan van Wyk (Unam), Renier Bussel (Unam), Sylvano Beukes (Unam), Russel van Wyk (Suburbs), Paulus Hangula (Rehoboth), Unomasa Kavita (Unam), Nikin Cloete (Suburbs), Lorenzo Louis (Unam), Geroen van Dam (Walvis Bay).
The match will be preceded by another warm-up match between the Namibian u20 national team and a Namibian u23 Invitational team. The u20 national team is preparing for the inaugural u20 Africa Cup which will be held in Madagascar from 18 to 22 April.
The u20 squad includes eight players who represented Namibia at last year’s Junior World Rugby Trophy in Zimbabwe where Namibia came fourth, and several players who formed part of the Namibian u19 team that won the u19 Africa Cup in Windhoek last year.
Namibian u20 coach Roger Thompson said the match, as well as the Madagascan tournament, would provide an opportunity for newcomers to grab their opportunities and make a name for themselves.
“The tournament in Madagascar is not a qualifying tournament, but it’s important for us to maintain our status as African champions. It is also an important tournament to help prepare for the Junior World Rugby Trophy in Uruguay in August, so we would like to give some of the newcomers an opportunity to cement their places in the squad,” he said.
Thompson called on Namibians playing in South Africa to make themselves available for the national squad.
The u20 match starts at 18h00 and will be immediately followed by the Welwitschia match. Entrance is free.
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