Uruguay to provide tough test

NAMIBIA’s national rugby team will play two test matches against Uruguay next month. The matches will be the last official matches for Namibia before the 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifiers start next year and will provide much needed priming against the strong and emerging south American side.

According to a Namibia Rugby Union press release, the tests will take place in Windhoek on 18 and 25 November, and will be the last matches before the World Cup qualifiers start in June next year.

The Tests will also form part of the NRU centennial celebrations, which were postponed last year. Organised rugby in Namibia started on 17 November 1916 when the Damaraland Rugby Football Union was established. In 1952 it was renamed the South West Africa Rugby Union, and in 1990, after Namibia’s independence, the Namibia Rugby Union.

Uruguay will provide strong opposition for Namibia, following some impressive performances this year, while they have also moved ahead of Namibia on the international rankings.

In June, they made history when they hosted the Nations Cup in Montevideo and won the tournament for the first time.

In a very competitive tournament, several teams were still in the running for the title going into the final day, but Uruguay maintained their unbeaten record with a 24-14 victory over Spain to clinch the title.

They had earlier beaten Emerging Italy 30-21 and Russia 32-29.

Namibia and Uruguay didn’t meet at the Nations Cup, but Namibia had an underwhelming tournament, winning only one of three matches.

They got off to a narrow 15-13 defeat to Spain, but then got into their stride with an impressive 38-22 win against Emerging Italy.

Going into their final match against Russia, Namibia still had an outside chance of winning the title, but they performed poorly and eventually lost the match 31-10. Namibia contributed to their own downfall with several handling errors and poor options against a team they had beaten 39-19 and 45-5 the previous year.

The results at the Nations Cup led to quite a shake-up in World Rugby’s international rankings, with Uruguay the main benefactor, and Namibia the biggest loser.

Going into the tournament Namibia was ranked 19th, but since then they have dropped two places to 21st in the world. Spain is now ranked 19th and Russia 20th, while Uruguay climbed three places to 18th.

Uruguay and Namibia did meet at junior level though this year, when Uruguay also hosted the World Rugby u20 Trophy in September. The two nations played off for the bronze medal and Uruguay comfortably won the match 34-12.

With the World Cup qualifiers looming, the two-test series should be keenly contested and will give numerous Namibian players a chance to stake their claim in the national squad.

Under new coach Lyn Jones, the Welwitschias have shown steady improvement in the Currie Cup First Division, winning one match so far, and losing three by narrow margins, and several of these players will be pushing for higher honours.

Jones has brought in several new players, also from the under 20 ranks, which has helped create depth and competition for places in Phil Davies’ national squad.

Some of the local-based Welwitschias who have impressed include Johan Tromp, Lesley Klim, TC Kisting, Des Sethie, Max Katjijeko, Adriaan Booysen and Christo van der Merwe, while under 20 players like Obert Nortje, Nelius Theron and Cliven Loubser have also come into the reckoning.

But some of the experienced veterans in the squad like David Philander, Rohan Kitshoff, Eugene Jantjies and Darryl de la Harpe have also been in fine form, with Philander winning two man of the match performances in the Currie Cup First Division, and competition for places can be expected to be fierce.