A youthful Namibian rugby team arrived in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar over the weekend, in preparation for their opening match of their European tour on Saturday.
The 28-man Namibian team consists mostly of young up and coming players while only 10 members remain from the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
The squad was originally announced last month, in preparation for a Kenya international friendly match, but that match fell through, and since then four players withdrew from the squad due to other commitments.
Prop forward Nelius Theron and loose forward Adriaan Booysen withdrew due to exams, and were replaced by Jason Benade and Prince Gaoseb respectively.
Lock forward Mahepisa Tjeriko withdrew due to a knee injury and was replaced by Adriaan Ludick, while Johan Deysel, who captained Namibia in the Africa Gold Cup series, withdrew due to club commitments in France, and was replaced by Henrique Olivier.
Several other experienced players were not considered when the original team was selected due to exams or other commitments. They include Torsten van Jaarsveld, Aranos Coetzee, Janco Venter and PJ van Lill (club commitments); Wian Conradie, Louis van der Westhuizen and Johan Retief (exams); and Lesley Klim, Leneve Damens, Eugene Jantjies and Christo van der Merwe who are all injured.
Experienced centre Darryl de la Harpe captains the team, while some of the other experienced members who also represented Namibia at the 2015 World Cup include Chrysander Botha, Johann Tromp, Rohan Kitshoff, Renaldo Bothma, Tjiuee Uanivi and Casper Viviers.
Some of the exciting newcomers include lock Adriaan Ludick, scrum half Wihan von Wielligh, centre Jenrique Olivier and fullback Chad Plato.
The Namibian squad is as follows:
Props: Andre Rademeyer, Casper Viviers, Des Sethie, Jason Benade, AJ de Klerk.
Hookers: Obert Nortje, Niel van Vuuren.
Locks: Tjiuee Uanivi, Ruan Ludick, Adriaan Ludick.
Loose forwards: Thomasau Forbes, Max Katjijeko, Renaldo Bothma x, Prince Goaseb, Rohan Kitshoff (vice captain).
Scrum halves: Damian Stevens, Wihan von Wielligh.
Fly halves: PW Steenkamp, Cliven Loubser.
Centres: Darryl de la Harpe (captain), JC Greyling, Henrique Olivier.
Back three: Johan Tromp, Chrysander Botha, Chad Plato, Janry du Toit, Justin Newman, TC Kisting.
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