Africa-Press – Namibia. AFTER a shock losing start to the Africa Cup, Namibia’s national rugby team quickly turned their fortunes around and by the end of the year a convincing triumph at the Stellenbosch Trophy put them in pole position for a place at the 2023 World Cup.
With former Springboks coach Allister Coetzee being appointed national coach, Namibia opened their Africa Cup campaign with a shock 24-13 defeat to the Ivory Coast in Abidjan on 3 July.
It was a poor and disjointed display by Namibia, ranked 25th in the world, which was not helped by a big penalty count against them, but at the same time, the Ivory Coast, ranked 42nd, showed more commitment and defended as if their lives depended on it.
The Ivory Coast took a 14-0 lead after two early tries, and although hooker Obert Nortje touched down for Namibia, the Ivory Coast’s forwards went over for a third try just before half time to take a 24-8 lead at the break. Namibia dominated possession in the second half, but several promising attacks were thwarted by handling errors.
Their pressure finally paid off when centre Lesley Klim went over for an unconverted try with nine minutes to go, but despite camping on the Ivory Coast’s try line in the final stages, the hosts defended superbly and held on for a shock victory.
It was an ignominious start for Coetzee, which put their World Cup hopes on ice, but four days later they responded in style with a superb team effort to post an emphatic 52-10 victory against Madagascar, and secure their place in the final World Cup qualifier, at next year’s Africa Cup.
Namibia attacked from the start and with their forwards using the rolling maul to good effect, they wore down Madagascar’s resistance with regular tries.
In total they scored seven tries through hooker Obert Nortje (two), eighthman Adriaan Booysen, scrumhalf Riaan van Zyl, fullback Johann Tromp, reserve hooker Gerhard Thirion and flyhalf TC Kisting, who added 15 points with the boot, and replacement back Ricardo Swartz, two points.
It was an impressive performance based on forward dominance, while the backline delivered some potent attacks, and put them right back in the mix for a place at the World Cup.
With that, Namibia booked their place at next year’s Africa Cup which will also serve as the final 2023 World Cup qualifier, which will oddly enough take place in France in July, where they will face Burkina Faso in the quarterfinals.
The other quarterfinals will see Zimbabwe taking on the Ivory Coast, Senegal against Algeria and Kenya against Uganda. Namibia win Stellenbosch Challenge
In November, Namibia were much more impressive when they won the Stellenbosch Challenge after convincingly beating two of their strongest African rivals, Kenya 60-24 and Zimbabwe 41-10.
In both matches they took a while to get going, and were actually still behind at halftime, but their forward dominance and superior conditioning saw them running out comfortable winners.
Against Kenya on 14 November, Namibia ran in ten tries through left wing JC Greyling, hooker Louis van der Westhuizen and flanker Wian Conradie, who each scored two tries, while eighthman Renaldo Bothma, lock PJ van Lill, hooker, fullback Lorenzo Louis and substitute back TC Kisting scored one each.
Their driving mauls were once again impressive, resulting in several tries, but their kicking was poor with only five of the tries converted. Six days later they clinched the Stellenbosch Challenge trophy after an impressive 41-10 victory against Zimbabwe in the final.
Namibia ran in a total of seven tries, with loose-forward Adriaan Booysen scoring two, and left wing JC Greyling, lock Max Katjijeko, replacement back Lorenzo Louis, fullback Johan Tromp and flanker Wian Conradie scoring one each, while replacement back Hilarius Kisting added three conversions.
Namibia’s forwards once again gave a fine performance, while the tournament also unearthed several promising youngsters like the front rowers Herschelle van Wyk and Gerhard Opperman, and centre Danco Burger.
Namibia’s national women’s team, however, had a tough introduction to international rugby when they lost 75-5 to Zambia on 14 November. The bigger and stronger Zambians ran Namibia off their feet, scoring some superb tries in an attacking display of running rugby.
Zambia, who led 36-5 at the half time break, ran in a total of 13 tries, but to their credit Namibia never gave up and when flyhalf Alicia Gertze went over for their solitary try, it was celebrated with gusto by her team mates.
It’s clear they still have a long way to go, but with Rugby Africa due to launch a new women’s competition in 2022 they should at least get regular competition and opportunities to improve their game.
Unam back on top On the local front, Unam won the Namibian Premier League title for the first time in four years after a deserved 30-20 victory against Western Suburbs on 20 November.
The final had been delayed by a month due to a lengthy disciplinary hearing that eventually saw Suburbs replacing Wanderers in the final after the latter was found guilty of using a player who was not properly registered in their semifinal victory against Suburbs.
Due to the delay, the players were not at their top level and it was not a very attractive final, but Unam’s superiority eventually told as they closed out the match in the final quarter.
Suburbs, however, gave a good account of themselves and even outscored Unam by three tries to two, but Unam turned on the screws in the second half to seal a well-deserved victory.
It was their first Premier League title since 2017, when they dominated the club rugby scene, winning three titles in a row, and with former national coach Johan Diergaardt back at the helm, he could once again be building another Unam dynasty.
Wanderers, though, were the only team to beat them during the league and if they can sort out their administrative issues they will always remain a threat.
Suburbs and Rehoboth also gave fine performances in a Covid-interrupted season, but it was a season to forget for the 2019 champions United, who finished bottom of the log after winning only one of their seven matches.
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