Williams confident of a win

NAMIBIAN rugby coach John Williams has expressed confidence that Namibia will beat the Ivory Coast in their return World Cup qualifier at Windhoek’s Hage Geingob Stadium on Saturday.

The first-leg encounter ended in a 13-all draw in Abidjan on June 14, but Williams said the circumstances counted against Namibia.The match in Abidjan took place in wet and rainy conditions while Namibia’s preparations were also adversely affected by the hosts’ poor organisation. ‘The circumstances in Abidjan suited them better. It was raining, the field was wet and there was a lot of humidity about and the conditions suited them better. All these factors played a role and we couldn’t play our game,’ he said.The hosts’ organisation left a lot to be desired as the match was postponed by a day to accommodate a soccer match between the Ivory Coast and Cameroon. Namibia’s preparations also suffered as a training session had to be cancelled when Cameroon used the field to train. Bad luck continued to dog Namibia during the match as flanker Tinus du Plessis received a yellow card just before half-time and then shortly after he rejoined, he had to once again leave the field for a blood replacement. ‘This resulted in us having to play with 14 men for a long time and we couldn’t build up momentum because we were lacking a ball carrier,’ Williams said.The half-time score was 6-all after two penalties by Chrysander Botha. Namibia took the lead shortly after the break when centre Piet van Zyl cut through their defence and forced his way over the line. Botha added the conversion to put Namibia 13-7 ahead.The Ivory Coast however struck back with about ten minutes remaining when their left wing fielded a poor clearance and launched a counter-attack to score a try which was converted to make the score 13-all. Williams paid tribute to the Ivory Coast but said he expected Namibia to win the home encounter on Saturday.’The Ivory Coast has improved a lot, but we should have won that match and also made some poor decisions. I am sure we will win the return match in Windhoek,’ he said.The selectors meanwhile named the same 22-man squad for Saturday’s return leg match in Windhoek. Namibian team: Chrysander Botha, McGrath van Wyk, Piet van Zyl, David Philander, Llewellyn Winckler, Jurie van Tonder, Tinus du Plessis, Jacques Burger, Jacky Bock, Jacques Nieuwenhuis, Nico Esterhuyse, Wacca Kazombiaze, Marius Visser, Hugo Horn and Kees Lensing.Substitutes:Emile Wessels, Tinus Venter, Eugene Jantjies, PJ van Lill, Andre de Klerk, Johnny Redelinghuis, Shaun Esterhuizen. www.namibiasport.com.na