Namibia Rugby Year Review

Base broadened but down on rankings

NAMIBIAN rugby showed steady progress on the domestic front during 2017 although the national side fell three places on World Rugby’s rankings to 22nd in the world.

The local-based Welwitschias improved dramatically as the year progressed but Namibia’s national side had mixed fortunes and finished the year with a home series defeat against Uruguay.

The Welwitschias, coached by Welshman Lyn Jones, got off to a poor start in the Supersport Rugby Challenge at the end of April and finished last in their group after winning just one out of eight matches.

That win was a narrow 45-43 victory against the Falcons, but they suffered some heavy defeats, going down 112-14 at home and 84-0 away to the Golden Lions, and 92-7 away to the Blue Bulls.

The Welwitschias however fared better in the Currie Cup First Division that started at the end of August and nearly shocked the defending champions, the Griffons, in their opening match in Welkom.

In a high-scoring match the Welwitschias took a 59-52 lead with 10 minutes to go but the Griffons struck back with two late tries to win the match 66-59.

When they beat the EP Kings 51-25 in their next match they went third on the log and at a stage it looked like they could make the semifinals, but a succession of close defeats saw their hopes disappear.

They lost 56-47 to the Falcons, 36-32 to the SWD Eagles, 26-25 to Border Bulldogs and 26-24 to Boland Cavaliers, while their only comprehensive defeat was against the Leopards (78-29).

In the end the Welwitschias finished second last on the log, but they they were competitive throughout and with a bit of luck could well have made the semifinals.

The Supersport Challenge and the Currie Cup also played an important role in moulding new players and broadening the national squad as several players went on to represent Namibia in international Test matches.

In June, Namibia competed in the Nations Cup in Uruguay and several new young players went on to make their Test debuts. They included wing back Lesley Klim, loose forward Johan Retief, lock Mahepisa Tjeriko, centre Justin Newman and the exciting u20 fly half Cliven Loubser, but Namibia’s performances were not that great.

They lost 15-13 to Spain in their opening match with Chrysander Botha scoring their only try, but then turned on the style to beat Emerging Italy 38-22, scoring six tries in the process, with Klim scoring two.

Namibia however finished poorly, losing their final match 31-10 to Russia, to eventually finish fourth out of six nations, while their world ranking fell from 19th to 21st. Uruguay, who won the Nations Cup after beating Spain 24-14, replaced Namibia in 19th position, while Russia moved up to 20th position.

In July, Namibia got back to winning ways and went on to win the Africa Gold Cup for the fourth year in a row.

They started off in style, beating Tunisia 53-7 away in Monastir, and Senegal 95-0 at home in Windhoek, but then had to overcome a spirited Zimbabwe before winning the match 31-26.

Namibia however closed the series out with two commanding victories, beating Uganda 48-24 and Kenya 45-7 to win the title for the fourth year in a row.

At the end of the year, though, Namibia fell another place on the world rankings to 22nd after losing 2-0 to Uruguay at home. Both matches could have gone either way but in the end Uruguay won the first test 52-36 and the second 39-34.

The defeats were disappointing, but national coach Phil Davies used the opportunity to blood new youngsters into the national squad like hooker Obert Nortje, prop Nelius Theron, flanker Prince Gaoseb, fullback PW Steenkamp and lock Adriaan Ludik, who will all be more experienced when the World Cup qualifiers start next year.

In September, Namibia u20 missed out on a medal at the World Rugby Junior Trophy when they lost 34-12 to Uruguay in the bronze medal playoff.

In the group stages, Namibia beat Canada 31-16 and Chile 33-19, but they lost 33-13 to the eventual champions Japan.

On the local club scene Unam continued their dominance of Namibian club rugby when they won the Premier League title for the third year in a row with a comfortable 42-28 victory against Wanderers in the final.