Africa-Press – Namibia. NAMIBIA’s long-awaited match against Canada, which was supposed to take place three years ago at the World Cup in Japan will now finally come to pass when the two nations square off in only their third encounter in Amsterdam tomorrow.
The World Cup showdown, which Namibia had been targeting for a first-ever win at the global showpiece, was cancelled at the last minute after Typhoon Hagibis swept through Japan, causing widespread destruction.
The two sides went into that encounter evenly-matched after suffering similar defeats to New Zealand, South Africa and Italy and now, three years on, there is once again little to choose between them, with Canada ranked 21st in the world and Namibia 23rd.
Canada has been quite active recently, with the Namibian encounter being their fourth successive match over the past month.
On 21 October they lost 36-25 to 22nd ranked Chile in Sao Paulo, before beating the hosts Brazil (ranked 27th) 31-14 at the same venue a week later. They then headed to Europe and started their campaign off with a 37-25 win against the 29th-ranked Netherlands in Amsterdam last weekend.
Namibia have played one match less in the corresponding period, having lost 33-18 to the Griquas at home on 5 November, before losing 32-15 to Spain in Madrid last weekend.
Interestingly, Canada and Spain met in Ottawa in June this year, with Spain running out comfortable 57-34 winners.
Canada, meanwhile, hold a historical edge over Namibia, having won both their previous encounters – 72-11 in 1999 and 17-13 in 2014.
Namibia, however, have developed a stable squad since the last World Cup with former coach Phil Davies’ succession plan now bearing fruit.
More than half of that squad was under 25, while 12 members are on the current European tour.
Players like Johan Deysel, Cliven Loubser, Damian Stevens and TC Kisting amongst the backs, and Prince !Gaoseb, Johan Retief, Wian Conradie, Janco Venter, Louis van der Westhuizen and Max Katjijeko amongst the forwards are now in the prime of their careers and form the core of a team that is taking shape for next year’s world cup in France.
Despite the scoreline last weekend, Namibia gave a promising performance against Spain, but indiscipline cost them as several players were sin-binned, allowing Spain to run in a few tries in the final quarter.
Namibia’s forwards held their own in the set-pieces, with Johan Retief rounding off an impressive driving maul with a try, while the backs showed glimpses of their flair, with Cliven Loubser running in a 60m counter-attacking try.
National coach Allister Coetzee yesterday said they are determined to finish their tour on a winning note.
“We would like to finish on a high although we know Canada is not an easy team to beat, they beat the Netherlands last week and they are a great passing team, so they will ask a lot of questions on defence.”
“We’ve looked at some footage of their previous games and noticed that they like to go wide on attack. They are good with their kicking game as well, but it’s a hard pitch, it’s a 4G surface which lends itself to running rugby. Whether they will come with their running game is to be seen, but we have prepared well, while we have two new caps this week in Darryl Wellman and Richard Hardwick and I’m really looking forward to see them play,” he added.
“We’ve worked well in terms of our set-pieces and hopefully we can match them at scrum time and make sure that our maul functions well again. We just need to go out there and play winning rugby and try to finish on a high note,” he said.
Coetzee said that Divan Rossouw, Janco Venter and Ruan Ludick could not be considered due to injury.
“Divan is out due to concussion, Ruan Ludick is out with an elbow injury and Janco Venter with a knee injury, but we have adapted well and I’m sure that the guys who get the opportunity will put their hands up and perform well – we are really looking forward to the game.”
The Namibian squad is as follows:
Jason Benade, Louis van der Westhuizen, Casper Viviers, Adriaan Ludick, Max Katjijeko, Wian Conradie, Johan Retief, Prince !Gaoseb (vice captain), Helarius Kisting, Cliven Loubser, Darryl Wellmann, Le Roux Malan, Johan Deysel (captain), Warren Ludwig, Andre van der Berg.
Reserves: Wicus Jacobs, Jano Otto, Chemigan Beukes, PJ van Lill, Richard Hardwick, Adriaan Booysen, Damian Stevens, PW Steenkamp.
The World Cup showdown, which Namibia had been targeting for a first-ever win at the global showpiece, was cancelled at the last minute after Typhoon Hagibis swept through Japan, causing widespread destruction.
The two sides went into that encounter evenly-matched after suffering similar defeats to New Zealand, South Africa and Italy and now, three years on, there is once again little to choose between them, with Canada ranked 21st in the world and Namibia 23rd.
Canada has been quite active recently, with the Namibian encounter being their fourth successive match over the past month.
On 21 October they lost 36-25 to 22nd ranked Chile in Sao Paulo, before beating the hosts Brazil (ranked 27th) 31-14 at the same venue a week later. They then headed to Europe and started their campaign off with a 37-25 win against the 29th-ranked Netherlands in Amsterdam last weekend.
Namibia have played one match less in the corresponding period, having lost 33-18 to the Griquas at home on 5 November, before losing 32-15 to Spain in Madrid last weekend.
Interestingly, Canada and Spain met in Ottawa in June this year, with Spain running out comfortable 57-34 winners.
Canada, meanwhile, hold a historical edge over Namibia, having won both their previous encounters – 72-11 in 1999 and 17-13 in 2014.
Namibia, however, have developed a stable squad since the last World Cup with former coach Phil Davies’ succession plan now bearing fruit.
More than half of that squad was under 25, while 12 members are on the current European tour.
Players like Johan Deysel, Cliven Loubser, Damian Stevens and TC Kisting amongst the backs, and Prince !Gaoseb, Johan Retief, Wian Conradie, Janco Venter, Louis van der Westhuizen and Max Katjijeko amongst the forwards are now in the prime of their careers and form the core of a team that is taking shape for next year’s world cup in France.
Despite the scoreline last weekend, Namibia gave a promising performance against Spain, but indiscipline cost them as several players were sin-binned, allowing Spain to run in a few tries in the final quarter.
Namibia’s forwards held their own in the set-pieces, with Johan Retief rounding off an impressive driving maul with a try, while the backs showed glimpses of their flair, with Cliven Loubser running in a 60m counter-attacking try.
National coach Allister Coetzee yesterday said they are determined to finish their tour on a winning note.
“We would like to finish on a high although we know Canada is not an easy team to beat, they beat the Netherlands last week and they are a great passing team, so they will ask a lot of questions on defence.”
“We’ve looked at some footage of their previous games and noticed that they like to go wide on attack. They are good with their kicking game as well, but it’s a hard pitch, it’s a 4G surface which lends itself to running rugby. Whether they will come with their running game is to be seen, but we have prepared well, while we have two new caps this week in Darryl Wellman and Richard Hardwick and I’m really looking forward to see them play,” he added.
“We’ve worked well in terms of our set-pieces and hopefully we can match them at scrum time and make sure that our maul functions well again. We just need to go out there and play winning rugby and try to finish on a high note,” he said.
Coetzee said that Divan Rossouw, Janco Venter and Ruan Ludick could not be considered due to injury.
“Divan is out due to concussion, Ruan Ludick is out with an elbow injury and Janco Venter with a knee injury, but we have adapted well and I’m sure that the guys who get the opportunity will put their hands up and perform well – we are really looking forward to the game.”
The Namibian squad is as follows:
Jason Benade, Louis van der Westhuizen, Casper Viviers, Adriaan Ludick, Max Katjijeko, Wian Conradie, Johan Retief, Prince !Gaoseb (vice captain), Helarius Kisting, Cliven Loubser, Darryl Wellmann, Le Roux Malan, Johan Deysel (captain), Warren Ludwig, Andre van der Berg.
Reserves: Wicus Jacobs, Jano Otto, Chemigan Beukes, PJ van Lill, Richard Hardwick, Adriaan Booysen, Damian Stevens, PW Steenkamp.
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