Namibia to play the Springboks

NAMIBIA’S national rugby team will play South Africa’s Springboks in a warm-up match before leaving for France to participate in the Rugby World Cup.

The South African Sunday newspaper Rapport reported that Namibia would play the Springboks at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in the Polokwane area of Limpopo province on August 15. Rapport quoted the chief executive officer of the Namibia Rugby Union, Christo Alexander, as saying that the NRU had accepted the invitation to play the Springboks.Namibia has quite a full programme this year, including several friendlies lined up in preparation for the World Cup.They will once again compete in the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) Cup and will come up against Kenya, Zambia and the emerging Springboks in group matches.From June 5 to 16, Namibia will join five other teams in the IRB Nations Cup in Bucharest, Romania.Here, Namibia will come up against Georgia, Argentina A and Romania.However, Namibia has a mountain to climb before these high-profile matches and especially the encounter against the Springboks, judging by their start to the 2007 season.In February they were thrashed 54-12 and 64-7 by South African franchise South Western Districts (SWD) in two friendlies in Windhoek.In these two friendlies, coach Johan Venter experimented with a pool of players, most of them in their 20s, as he was looking for potential national team material for the future.The teams did not include many of the senior players at the time and Venter was also not concerned about the score line, but was happy to see the talent that came forth during the two friendly matches.Namibia will be competing at the World Cup later in September for the third time, with Venter going as coach for the second time after he also led the 1999 side to Wales.www.namibiasport.com.naRapport quoted the chief executive officer of the Namibia Rugby Union, Christo Alexander, as saying that the NRU had accepted the invitation to play the Springboks.Namibia has quite a full programme this year, including several friendlies lined up in preparation for the World Cup.They will once again compete in the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) Cup and will come up against Kenya, Zambia and the emerging Springboks in group matches.From June 5 to 16, Namibia will join five other teams in the IRB Nations Cup in Bucharest, Romania.Here, Namibia will come up against Georgia, Argentina A and Romania.However, Namibia has a mountain to climb before these high-profile matches and especially the encounter against the Springboks, judging by their start to the 2007 season.In February they were thrashed 54-12 and 64-7 by South African franchise South Western Districts (SWD) in two friendlies in Windhoek.In these two friendlies, coach Johan Venter experimented with a pool of players, most of them in their 20s, as he was looking for potential national team material for the future.The teams did not include many of the senior players at the time and Venter was also not concerned about the score line, but was happy to see the talent that came forth during the two friendly matches.Namibia will be competing at the World Cup later in September for the third time, with Venter going as coach for the second time after he also led the 1999 side to Wales.www.namibiasport.com.na