NRU announces jam-packed program

THE Namibia Rugby Union on Wednesday announced a jam-packed program for 2017 that will see Namibia’s national senior team, the u20 team, the Sevens team and the franchise Welwitschias team in action from April till November.

The Welwitschias, who have been hard at work, training under new coach Lyn Jones, will kick off their Supersport Rugby Challenge campaign in the Northern Group with an away match against the Falcons on 22 April.

They will play four home and four away matches in the Supersport Rugby Challenge, against the three other teams in the Northern Group, the Lions, the Blue Bulls and the Pumas.

Their home matches will be against the Blue Bulls on 29 April, the Falcons on 27 May, the Lions on 10 June, and the Pumas on 17 June.

The top two teams from each group, together with the two third-placed teams with the most log points, will qualify for the quarterfinals, which take place on Sunday, 2 July, followed by the semifinals a week later and the final on Sunday, 16 July.

On completion of the Supersport Rugby Challenge, the Welwitschias will compete in the Currie Cup First Division which starts on 12 August, although these fixtures still have to be finalised.

The Namibian national team, meanwhile, will once again compete in the World Rugby Nations Cup, which this year takes place for the first time in Uruguay.

Here they will play Spain on 10 June, Emerging Italy on 14 June, and Russia on 18 June.

The national team will then start its campaign in the Africa Cup, with an away match against Tunisia in Monastir on 1 July.

This will be followed by two home matches against Senegal and Zimbabwe, an away game against Uganda, and a home game against Kenya one 29 July.

According to a press release issued by NRU acting CEO Elizma Theron, negotiations are also underway for the national team to play more test matches in November, while they are also trying to secure a warm-up match for the Welwitschias before the start of the Supersport Rugby Challenge.

The national Sevens team will also compete in several tournaments this year, starting with the Hong Kong Sevens tournament next weekend from 7 to 9 April. If they do well enough they could get a place on the prestigious HSBC World Sevens Tour.

Towards the end of October they will compete in the Assupol Sevens tournament in Stellenbosch, South Africa, to be followed by the Safland Sevens in Swakopmund on 3 and 4 November.

Two weeks later they will compete at the Africa Sevens Championships at a venue still to be determined.

The national u20 team will compete in the inaugural Africa u20 tournament in Madagascar on 19 and 22 April, which will also serve as preparation for the U20 Junior World Rugby Trophy in Uruguay in August.

Namibia’s national women’s side will also compete in the Africa Women’s Sevens tournament in September at a venue still to be confirmed.

Theron also announced several appointments that had been made by the NRU.

Lyn Jones was appointed coach of the Welwitschias in February and since then JP Nel has been appointed as his assistant backline coach and Eugene Jantjies as the Welwitschias captain.

Strength and conditioning training at the NRU High Performance Centre has been conducted by PD Stoman, while Dominic le Roux has been appointed as the rehabilitation and monitoring specialist.

An intern performance analyst, Armand von Wielligh was appointed, while he is being assisted by an analyst from the Wales Rugby Union, as part of the skills transfer process to Namibian candidates.

The NRU has also advertised the position of a full time physiotherapist, to assist players as the need arises.