Rugby World Cup Profile – Namibia
The Namibian national Rugby Union team, also known as Welwitschias or Biltongboere, is placed in Pool D of the 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC). Besides Welwitschias, other teams in Pool D include defending champions Springboks, Samoa, Fiji and Wales.
The 2011 RWC appearance will be Namibia’s fourth consecutive RWC appearance. Earlier they did not qualify for the first three World Cup’s tournaments and they did not participate in the 1987, 1991, and 1995 RWCs.
Namibia is yet to win a match in the RWC tournament. They suffered a humiliating 142 – 0 defeat at the hands of the Wallabies during the 2003 RWC. Their massive defeat is a record for a defeat by the heaviest margin in RWC history.
Namibia is currently ranked in 20th position in the International Rugby Board’s (IRB) World Rankings. They qualified for the 2011 mega event after they defeated Tunisia 40 – 23 in a two match series, to secure a 2011 RWC flight on the African
spot.
Namibia has a limited number of international games. They participate in the IRB Nations Cup, but other than that, their international outings are few and far between. They were champions of the 2010 Nations Cup, but this year they only managed to secure
just a win from three matches played in the tournament. They lost their matches to Romania and Georgia, 13 – 11 and 23 – 18 respectively, while they registered a 29 – 23 win over the 2007 RWC qualifiers, Portugal.
The South African born Jacques Nieuwenhuis is Namibia’s most renowned player. He plays his club rugby with the French professional rugby union club, Stade Aurillac.
The back row forward Nieuwenhuis has scored a try in a RWC game against Ireland during the 2007 RWC.
Heino Senekal, with his 10 matches, holds Namibia’s record for the most appearances. Lean van Dyk with his 22 points coming from his three international matches, which includes two conversions and six penalties, is their highest point scorer.
Bratley Langenhoven, Jacques Nieuwenhuis, Hakkies Husselman, Du Preez Grobler, Quinn Hough, Corne Powell, Eben Izaacs, Mario Jacobs, Attie Samuelson, Heino Senekal and Piet van Zyl, all have scored one try each, which is by far the highest number of try
scored by any Namibian player.
The Namibian 32-man training squad for their 2011 RWC campaign consists of,
Eugene Jantjies, Ryan de la Harpe, Collin de Koe, Theuns Kotze, Jackie Bock, TC Losper, Darryl de la Harpe, Danie van Wyk, Dawid Philander, Roger Thompson, Heini Bock, Wally Winkler, Conrad Marais, McGrath van Wyk, Chrysander Botha, Jane du Toit, Johnny
Redelinghuys, Marius Visser, Hauta Veii, Sean Esterhuizen, Bertus O Callaghan, Callie Swanepoel, Hugo Horn, Wacca Kazombiaze, Nico Esterhuizen, Heinz Koll, Morne Blom, Henk Franken, Jacques Nieuwenhuis, Tinus du Plessis, Renaud van Neel, PJ van Lill.
No real hopes are associated with Namibia to win a game as they find themselves in a Pool, which is termed as the Pool of death. The Welwitschias most probably will leave the 2011 RWC without a win. However, they will be eyeing to deliver some good on field
performances and learn the art of the game, while playing with the international teams.
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