NAMIBIA’s road to the 2019 Rugby World Cup starts on Saturday when they host Uganda in their first match of the Africa Rugby Gold Cup at the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium.
Namibia has a proud record in the Africa Cup, having won the title for the past four years in a row and with this year’s competition also serving as the qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup, it will be imperative to start off with a victory against Uganda.
As such, national coach Phil Davies has called up a strong 23-man squad, which includes eight professionals who play abroad, while 11 players represented Namibia at the 2015 World Cup in England.
Sharks centre Johan Deysel will captain the team for the first time, while it will be a special day for fullback Chrysander Botha who will win his 50th cap for Namibia.
Besides Deysel, other foreign-based players who will be in action in Namibia for the first time this year include lock Tjiuee Uanivi, prop Aranos Coetzee, loose forwards Wian Conradie, Janco Venter and PJ van Lill, fly half Cliven Loubser and right wing Leslie Klim.
Several players were not considered due to injury or other considerations, including captain and eighthman Renaldo Bothma, hooker Torsten van Jaarsveld and wing backs Divan Rossouw, Johann Tromp and David Philander.
But besides the strong foreign-based component, the squad also features 10 local-based players, a fact that has given Davies a lot of satisfaction.
“There are 10 local-based players in the match-day 23, which shows that the depth in our squad is growing. Now we have more than 100 players who are part of our High Performance programme, while before the last World Cup we had less than half of that,” he said.
“Last year when we hosted Uruguay in November, more than 80 percent of the squad was local-based so that’s a huge improvement,” he added.
Some of the local-based players who have established themselves over the past year or two include hooker Obert Nortje, lock Ruan Ludik and prop Des Sethie, while prop Andre Rademeyer and fly half PW Steenkamp, who are on the bench on Saturday, will win their first caps for Namibia.
Davies said that the standard of African rugby had improved a lot recently and expected a tough match against Uganda.
“They have improved a lot and have a good coach in John Duncan. They are very good at creating turnover balls and are dangerous from loose play,” he said.
“All the African countries have improved a lot and it’s going to be a big challenge this year,” he added.
Namibia’s depth will be tested to the limit as the Welwitschias will also play the Pumas in the SuperSport Challenge, away in Secunda on Friday evening. The Pumas have been in great form this season, having won all their matches to date and lead the North Log on 29 points, while the Welwitschias are bottom of the log on seven points.
Some of the national squad players who will be available for the Welwitschias include forwards Adriaan Booysen, Mahepisa Tjeriko, Max Katjijeko and Thomasua Forbes, and backs, Russell van Wyk, JC Winkler, Gino Wilson and Janry du Toit.
The match against Uganda starts at 15h30 at the Hage Geingob Stadium while tickets are available online at webtickets.com.na or at Pick ‘n Pay stores at N$50 for adults and N$10 for children.
Tickets can also be bought at the stadium at N$60 for adults and N$20 for children.
The Namibian squad is as follows:
Casper Civiers, Obert Nortje, Aranos Coetzee, Ruan Ludick, Tjiuee Uanivi, Wian Conradie, Janco Venter, PJ van Lill, Eugene Jantjies, Cliven Loubser, JC Greyling, Darryl de la Harpe, Johan Deysel (captain), Leslie Klim and Chrysander Botha.
The substitutes are Louis van der Westhuizen, Andre Rademeyer, Des Sethie, Johan Retief, Rohan Kitshoff, Damien Stevens, PW Steenkamp and Justin Newman.
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