Witbooi predicts bright future for Namibian rugby

BORDEAUX – Namibia’s flying winger Ryan Witbooi told the world to “watch out” following his country’s impressive performance in their World Cup opener against Six Nations Triple Crown winners Ireland.

Although the rank-outsiders lost Sunday’s game here 32-17, they produced a much better performance and ran the Irish a lot closer than was expected. Witbooi had a hand in both tries and was named man of the match and now he believes there is a lot more to come from Namibian rugby in the future.In a country which has fewer than 2 000 players at all levels and whose national team consists of only five professionals, to run one of the best sides in the world close for the entire 80 minutes was a huge achievement.”It was a bit of a surprise, it was a great game.I expected more from Ireland, like the coach said, they wanted more points so we didn’t give it to them, we played our hearts out,” said Witbooi.”We are a force to be reckoned with in the future.We’ve worked hard in the last two years.The World Cup comes only every four years, so we decided this World Cup we want to be the most successful team Nambia ever sent to the World Cup and we’ve put our bodies on the line.”We’ve had intensive training for two to three months before we came here, and that really built us up.”We saw that when we put pressure on the Irish team, they fell apart.Their defensive line was not as good as at first, so we decided to play in the gaps, and that’s what happened, we exploited them and that’s how the two tries came.”Witbooi set up the first of those with a break before offloading to Tertius Losper to score on 60 minutes.And he was involved again four minutes later in a break down the opposite flank before Piet Van Zyl kicked on and touched down.Far from dying on their feet after 60 minutes as coach Hakkies Husselman had feared, Namibia seemed to come on stronger in the latter stages.”We’ve got a Super 14 strength and conditioning coach from the Bulls who’s been with us for three months and that’s been a huge help for us,” he said.”They’ve shown they can compete at this level for 80 minutes.I thought Ireland looked more tired than our guys and we did a lot more tackling than them.The coaches have done a really excellent job.”Captain Kees Lensing paid tribute to the French fans, who heartily supported the underdogs throughout the match.”The supporters were unbelievable.It felt like we were playing at home only there were three or four times as many people as we ever get,” he said.”So thanks very much, they lifted us 10 or 20 percent.We ran out to see a packed stadium and that gave us goose bumps.”We haven’t played in front of such a big crowd and that motivated us.”Nampa-ReutersWitbooi had a hand in both tries and was named man of the match and now he believes there is a lot more to come from Namibian rugby in the future.In a country which has fewer than 2 000 players at all levels and whose national team consists of only five professionals, to run one of the best sides in the world close for the entire 80 minutes was a huge achievement.”It was a bit of a surprise, it was a great game.I expected more from Ireland, like the coach said, they wanted more points so we didn’t give it to them, we played our hearts out,” said Witbooi.”We are a force to be reckoned with in the future.We’ve worked hard in the last two years.The World Cup comes only every four years, so we decided this World Cup we want to be the most successful team Nambia ever sent to the World Cup and we’ve put our bodies on the line.”We’ve had intensive training for two to three months before we came here, and that really built us up.”We saw that when we put pressure on the Irish team, they fell apart.Their defensive line was not as good as at first, so we decided to play in the gaps, and that’s what happened, we exploited them and that’s how the two tries came.”Witbooi set up the first of those with a break before offloading to Tertius Losper to score on 60 minutes.And he was involved again four minutes later in a break down the opposite flank before Piet Van Zyl kicked on and touched down.Far from dying on their feet after 60 minutes as coach Hakkies Husselman had feared, Namibia seemed to come on stronger in the latter stages.”We’ve got a Super 14 strength and conditioning coach from the Bulls who’s been with us for three months and that’s been a huge help for us,” he said.”They’ve shown they can compete at this level for 80 minutes.I thought Ireland looked more tired than our guys and we did a lot more tackling than them.The coaches have done a really excellent job.”Captain Kees Lensing paid tribute to the French fans, who heartily supported the underdogs throughout the match.”The supporters were unbelievable.It felt like we were playing at home only there were three or four times as many people as we ever get,” he said.”So thanks very much, they lifted us 10 or 20 percent.We ran out to see a packed stadium and that gave us goose bumps.”We haven’t played in front of such a big crowd and that motivated us.”Nampa-Reuters