NAMIBIAN rugby coach John Williams has named a squad of 22 players who will take on Tunisia in a 2011 World Cup qualifier at the Hage Geingob Stadium tomorrow. Kick-off is at 16h00.
Williams kept most of the players who did duty for Namibia against the same country a fortnight ago, but also made slight changes due to some players who are injured.United scrumhalf Jurie van Tonder will be out of the clash after he got injured away and will be replaced by the equally competent Eugene Jantjies, who played brilliantly at the 2007 World Cup in France.Jantjies will feed his backline via Emile Wessels who remains as the flyhalf for the encounter.Western Suburbs’ towering lock Wacca Kazombiaze makes way to the bench for Wanderers lock Heinz Koll who has been chosen to start the game.Namibia will also be without Heini Bock who played on the left wing in the last match, missing out due to injury.The other changes see centre Tinus Venter moving to the right wing, while Bradley Langenhoven who played on the right wing in Tunis goes in on the left wing to fill in the gap left by Bock.David Philander, who dons the colours of Rehoboth Rugby Club, gets a chance at inside centre alongside Piet van Zyl who will be the other man in the middle of the park. The front row, which includes veteran prop and captain Kees Lensing, remains intact, as he will be assisted by hooker Hugo Horn and Marius Visser as the loosehead prop.Blue Bulls flanker Jacques Burger will once again be in the thick of things and will be assisted in the role of picking up on the loose balls by teammate Jacques Nieuwenhuis.Chrisander Botha will be fullback in an encounter which is expected to bring out the best among the Namibians who are gunning for their third World Cup appearance.Namibia beat Tunisia 18-13 in their away tie in Tunis and have a five-point lead. A win will seal a place into the world showpiece and they will be grouped alongside South Africa, Wales and Fiji. Entrance is free for fans on the Open Stand, while seats on the Grand Stand cost N$50.The full Namibian squad is as follows:1 Kees Lensing (captain), 2 Hugo Horn, 3 Marius Visser, 4 Heinz Koll, 5 Nico Esterhuizen, 6 Jacques Burger, 7 Jacques Niewenhuis, 8 Tinus du Plessis, 9 Eugene Jantjies. 10 Emile Wessels, 11 Bradley Langenhoven, 12 David Philander, 13 Piet van Zyl, 14 Tinus Venter, 15 Chrysander Botha.Subs:16 Shaun Esterhuzen, 17 Johnny Redelinghuys, 18 Jane du Toit, 19 PJ van Lill, 20 Ismael du Plessis, 21 Wacca Kazombiaze, 22 Robert Herridge.corry@namibian.com.na
