a date with destiny - the namibian...17 september 2015 2 rugby world cup 2015 message by ceo of nru...

1Rugby World Cup 2015 17 September 2015

Compiled by: Helge Schütz & Johannes Aoxamub

A Publication of

2015Rugby World Cup

Photo: Yvonne Amukwaya

A Date with Destiny

Russell van Wyk breaks away for a try against Russia. Photo: Helge Schutz

Rugby World Cup 201517 September 2015 2

Messageby CEO of NRU

On behalf of the NRU board, I wish to congratulate all the players who have made it into our Rugby World Cup 2015 squad.

For many of you it is indeed a dream come true and a reward for all the effort and hard work that you have put in over the last couple of months.

Our road to qualification has certainly not been an easy one. During 2012 we found ourselves relegated to the CAR 1 B division of the Africa Cup and we had to fight our way to the top again. But we did our country proud when we defeated Madagascar in 2015 in a match which many of us will remember for years to come.

The last couple of weeks saw us defeating Russia, Kenya and Zimbabwe in test matches which can only be described as spectacular. All this could not have been possible without the work that the board, the team management, the coaches and other specialist staff put in over the last four years to create an environment which allowed our players to perform. In evaluating our setbacks and our accomplishments, I can only conclude that Namibia rugby has indeed bounced back.

Our first match against the world-renowned All Blacks will certainly test us to perform at levels never experienced before. I am confident however, that our team will take this opportunity to display exceptional

skill, commitment, strength and endurance when they run out onto the field and take on our opponents during RWC 2015.

I trust that you as players representing Namibia will be true ambassadors of our beautiful country and that you will show to the rest of the world that we as a nation are indeed a force to be reckoned with.

Needless to mention that our participation in this prestigious tournament would not have been possible was it not for the generosity of our sponsors Windhoek Draught, First National Bank of Namibia, Air Namibia, Auas Motors, Paratus Telecom and so many others who have made contributions.

I must however extend a special word of gratitude to His Excellency Dr Hage Geingob, our Patron, as well as the government of the Republic of Namibia for the commitment and support towards rugby in our country.

To our team, each one of you deserves to wear the jersey. Make us all proud, play your hearts out, but don’t forget to enjoy the game we all love so much!

In closing, I wish also to extend a special thank you to every other stakeholder of the Namibia Rugby Union. Let us all get behind our team and enjoy together over the next couple of weeks a tournament, which will certainly be a rugby spectacle at its best.

Bradley Basson

In August 2012 I accepted the challenge to become the CEO of the NRU and the three main objectives set for me at the time was to firstly

ensure we qualify for RWC 2015, secondly that we go to RWC in 20th position on the world rankings and thirdly that a High Performance Centre be established to prepare our players for the demands of high-intensity international rugby.

The year 2014 turned out to be one of the most exciting and unpredictable qualification years of all time for RWC qualification. We lost our first match against Kenya in Madagascar and it seemed that Kenya would qualify for RWC. We managed to beat Zimbabwe narrowly, but without the desired bonus point, which did not guarantee our qualification, but still left the door open.

We were, however, dependant on the result in the Kenya and Zimbabwe match, which was won by Zimbabwe on the final day of the competition. This result meant that if we won the match against Madagascar all three teams would be on 10 log points, and the team with the biggest points difference would qualify for RWC.

We ran onto the field knowing we had to win the match by more than 57 points, which was a huge ask, but a determined team ran out and by halftime had already achieved that goal. The second half was a formality and we qualified for RWC 2015. The first goal was achieved.

From September 2014 an intense period of preparation followed and the squad went on a very valuable tour to Europe two months later.

A High Performance Centre was established and the players had the opportunity to prepare themselves in a facility that enabled them to train at high intensity on and off the field. Goal number two was achieved.

We participated in the Vodacom Cup in 2015 which assisted in preparing the local players for the international season ahead. We kicked the international season off in June 2015 with a match in Tunisia and then the Nations Cup in Romania.

In July we achieved a historical series win over Russia and beat Kenya and Zimbabwe in August to be crowned African champions for 2015. These results saw us moving up the rankings from 22nd to 20th place as of 21 August. Goal number three was achieved.

The team ended their preparation for the RWC with a camp in Durban where we had the opportunity to train with the Springboks. A very valuable week indeed, and I am positively excited about the prospects of the team’s performance at the RWC. On 24 September we open our campaign against the world champions at a sold-out Olympic stadium, an honour for any rugby player. We move on to Exeter where we will play Tonga and Georgia, at our home base for the RWC.

The support from the people of Exeter will certainly boost our team’s morale and the goal is to achieve our first ever RWC win. We end our pool games against Argentina who recently achieved their first ever win against the Springboks. An exciting campaign indeed, and I want to wish the team all the best for the RWC.

Sybrand de Beer

Forewordby NRU President

MAKE US PROUD … President Hage Geingob with Namibia captain Jacques Burger.

One of the biggest sporting spectacles in the world, the Rugby World Cup (RWC)

kicks off in England tomorrow when England take on Fiji in the opening match at Twickenham Stadium.

The 20-team tournament, which will be played in 11 cities, will attract 440 000 overseas visitors and over 2 million Britons in the biggest boost to tourism in England since the 2012 London Olympic Games.

It is estimated that the Rugby World Cup will generate nearly 1 billion Pounds for Britain’s transport and tourism industries, while the 17 matches to be played in London will bring nearly 200 million Pounds to the capital.

Furthermore the unprecedented interest in the tournament was underlined by the fact that more than 90 percent of the 2,45 million tickets have already been sold for what will be the biggest RWC tournament the world has ever seen.

The world’s top 20 rugby nations will battle it out for ultimate glory in the quadrennial event, and Namibia will once again be there after having qualified as the African champions.

Their qualification was a remarkable journey against all odds, and that tremendous spirit and camaraderie will now be put to the ultimate test as they take on the world’s strongest nations.

This is the fifth time that Namibia has qualified for the World Cup but so far they don’t have a good record on the world’s biggest stage.

They are yet to win a match at the World Cup, while their 142-0 defeat against Australia in 2003 is the biggest defeat in the history of the event.

Namibian President Hage Geingob is a big supporter of the national rugby team and

has played a major role in rallying the nation’s support behind the team.

When they qualified for the Rugby World Cup after beating Madagascar in June last year, he hosted the team to a luncheon on their return to Namibia and congratulated them on their remarkable achievement of qualifying for their fifth successive World Cup.

“I would like to congratulate the Namibia Rugby Union and the Welwitschias for an outstanding performance over the weekend which ensured that Namibia qualified for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Your performance brought joy and pride to the people of Namibia and exemplified the bravery and never say die spirit of our nation,” he said.

“We are all aware that Namibia has been drawn in a tough group which includes the New Zealand All Blacks and Argentina. However, this is Namibia’s fifth successive Rugby World Cup and the time is right for us to progress from mere participants to history making giant killers. It is time to win,” he added.

“I assure you that the whole nation is behind the NRU and Welwitschias as you prepare for what we are sure will be a historic and successful World Cup campaign. Shock the world!” he

added. Earlier this month, President

Geingob hosted the team to a luncheon at State House, where he once again urged them to shock the world, when they take on the world champions New Zealand in their first match at the Rugby World Cup in London on 24 September.

“I was dreaming that we are going to give the All Blacks hell. It’s going to be a heck of a game so please go and fulfil my dream,” he said.

Geingob congratulated the team on its achievements and urged the players to make their country proud.

“This is the fifth time that you are going to the World Cup so congratulations on qualifying again, we are proud of you,” he said.

“You have been training under trying conditions with some amateurs in your team while rugby all over the world is professional now. But remember that you are from the Land of the Brave so go out there and make us proud,” he added.

Geingob said the team had it in them to win their first match at the World Cup.

“I’ve watched this team play three times now and I saw that they are very difficult to beat. So this time you must win at least one game at the World Cup,” he said.

Rugby team receives

Presidential support Let the Rugby World Cup begin!

I’ve watched this team play three times now and I saw that they are

very difficult to beat. So this time you must win at

least one game at the World Cup.


A NATION’S PRIDE … Namibia’s Rugby World Cup team, front row from left: David Philander, PJ van Lill, Chrysander Botha, Tinus du Plessis, Jacques Burger, Theuns Kotze, Johnny Redelinghuys, Eugene Jantjies, Darryl de la Harpe and Rohan Kitshoff. Second row: Damian Stevens, Danie van Wyk, Russell van Wyk, Leneve Damens, Renaldo

Bothma, Conrad Marais, Jaco Engels, Casper Viviers and Johannes Coetzee. Third row: JC Greyling, Eniell Buitendag, Heinrich Smit, Torsten van Jaarsveld, AJ de Klerk, Louis van der Westhuizen and Johan Deysel. Back row: Johann Tromp, Raoul Larson, Tjiuee Uanivi, Janco Venter and Wian Conradie. Johan Jooste Photography

One of the biggest sporting spectacles in the world, the Rugby World Cup (RWC)

kicks off in England tomorrow when England take on Fiji in the opening match at Twickenham Stadium.

The 20-team tournament, which will be played in 11 cities, will attract 440 000 overseas visitors and over 2 million Britons in the biggest boost to tourism in England since the 2012 London Olympic Games.

It is estimated that the Rugby World Cup will generate nearly 1 billion Pounds for Britain’s transport and tourism industries, while the 17 matches to be played in London will bring nearly 200 million Pounds to the capital.

Furthermore the unprecedented interest in the tournament was underlined by the fact that more than 90 percent of the 2,45 million tickets have already been sold for what will be the biggest RWC tournament the world has ever seen.

The world’s top 20 rugby nations will battle it out for ultimate glory in the quadrennial event, and Namibia will once again be there after having qualified as the African champions.

Their qualification was a remarkable journey against all odds, and that tremendous spirit and camaraderie will now be put to the ultimate test as they take on the world’s strongest nations.

This is the fifth time that Namibia has qualified for the World Cup but so far they don’t have a good record on the world’s biggest stage.

They are yet to win a match at the World Cup, while their 142-0 defeat against Australia in 2003 is the biggest defeat in the history of the event.

It won’t be much easier this time around as Namibia will be competing in Group C where they will take on the defending world champions New Zealand in their opening match on 24 September at the Olympic Stadium in London.

From there on they will set up camp in Plymouth on the south-west coast of England for their next two matches against Tonga and Georgia in Exeter, which is about 70km away.

Namibia will be targeting these two matches to try and make history and win a first-ever match at the World Cup, but it won’t be easy since both teams consist of full-time professional players and are ranked higher than Namibia.

Namibia then travel to the central city of Leicester where they will face another tough task against Argentina in their final group match.

One thing is for sure though - Namibia has already caught the world’s imagination as a team mostly made up of amateurs, fighting way above its weight, and this current squad led by the inspirational Jacques Burger, is bound to make its country proud on the world’s biggest stage.

The contenders As usual, New Zealand go into

the World Cup as the favourites to win the title. They are the defending champions, having won at home four years ago, and such has their dominance in world rugby been, that they have only lost three matches in the four years since.

If they win the World Cup they will make history since no team has

retained the title, and this time around they once again have a potent team.

They are led by a legend of the game in flanker Richie McCaw who is the most capped player in the history of the game, while he has won the World Player of the Year award a record three times.

In the pack they have two other World Players of the Year in Kieran Reid and Brodie Retallick and in the backline they have stalwarts like Conrad Smith, Ma’a Nonu and Dan Carter, who twice won the World Player of the Year award while he has scored the most points in the history of the game.

And then there is their prolific try scorer, wing Julian Savea who is probably the best finisher in the game with a great strike rate of 30 tries in 35 test matches.

If you are a betting person, New Zealand look like a safe bet to win the title.

But New Zealand have yet to win the World Cup on European soil and this year’s event will be wide open, with up to five other countries all in with a chance of success.

The hosts England will have home ground advantage and with a strong pack led by Chris Robshaw and exciting backs like Jonny May, Owen Farrell and Mike Brown in the

backline, they will fancy their chances. Their star player however could turn

out to be centre Sam Burgess, who recently switched from Rugby League, where he won the World Player of the Year title last year.

England’s confidence also received a big boost when they beat Six Nations champions Ireland in their final warm-up match on 5 September.

They have however been drawn in the ‘Group of Death’ along with Australia and Wales, with the result that one of the three will not reach the knockout stages.

Ireland have been the most consistent European team over the past two years. They have won the Six Nations title for the past two years in a row, and in this year’s campaign lot only one match against Wales.

They boast one of the most experienced squads at the World Cup, totalling more than 1 000 caps and will be led by experienced lock Paul O’ Connell who already has 104 caps to his name.

Wales have been one of Europe’s top teams over the past five years and won the Six Nations title in 2012 and 2013.

This year they narrowly missed out on the title on points difference and shared a win and a defeat in two warm-up matches against Ireland last month.

Their hopes however suffered a major blow when their fullback and points machine Leigh Halfpenny and scrum half Rhys Webb were injured in their final warm-up match and ruled out of the World Cup.

France haven’t been that impressive in Europe of late with their last Six Nations title coming in 2010, but with their flair and unpredictability and big

match temperament they will always be a contender.

At the last World Cup they reached the final before suffering an agonising 8-7 defeat against New Zealand, while some of their best performances have come at the World Cup.

In 1999 they beat New Zealand 43-31 in one of the greatest matches in World Cup history and eight years later they once again beat the seemingly invincible All Blacks in the quarterfinals.

Australia have looked impressive under tough coach Michael Cheika and this year beat the All Blacks on the way to winning the Rugby Championship for the first time since 2011.

They have some exciting backs like former Rugby League star Israel Folau, Quade Cooper and Henry Speight while they have two of the best fetchers in the world in their pack in flankers Michael Hooper and David Pocock.

But like England and Wales, they have received a very tough draw in the Group of Death.

South Africa are always contenders and this year will once again field a strong and experienced squad, which includes nine players who won the World Cup in 2007.

These include legendary players like Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger, Fourie du Preez, Bryan Habana and captain Jean de Villiers, as well as up-and-coming stars like Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende and Handre Pollard.

The Springboks are expected to top their group and qualify for the quarterfinals where they could face England or Australia.

Let the Rugby World Cup begin!


Johannes Coetzee: Age: 27 | Position: Prop

Caps: 4 | Club: Brive

AJ de Klerk: Age: 27 | Position: Prop | Caps: 5

Club: Maties

Jaco Engels: Age: 34 | Position: Prop | Caps: 12

Club: United

Johnny Redelinghuys:Age: 31 | Position: Prop

Caps: 46 | Club: Wanderers

Raoul Larson: Age: 31Position: Prop | Caps: 6

Club: SWD

Casper Viviers: Age 27Position: Prop | Caps: 13

Club: St Naziere

Torsten van Jaarsveld: Age: 28 | Position: HookerCaps: 7 | Club: Cheetahs

Louis van der Westhuizen:Age: 20 | Position: HookerCaps: 2 | Club: Leopards

Tjiuee Uanivi: Age: 24Position: Lock | Caps: 10

Club: Brive

Janco Venter: Age: 20Position: Lock | Caps: 8

Club: Maties

Jacques Burger: Age: 32Position: Flanker | Caps: 33

Club: Saracens

Tinus du Plessis: Age: 31Position: Flanker | Caps: 43

Club: Wanderers

Rohan Kitshoff: Age: 29Position: Flanker | Caps: 22

Club: Durbell

Leneve Damens: Age: 22Position: Flanker | Caps: 3

Club: Wanderers

Wian Conradie: Age: 20Position: Flanker | Caps: 1Club: Uni Johannesburg

Renaldo Bothma: Age: 25Position: Eighthman

Caps: 7 | Club: Sharks

PJ van Lill: Age: 32Position: Eighthman


Eugene Jantjies: Age: 29Position: Scrum half

Caps: 43 | Club: Farul Constanta

Eniell Buitendag: Age: 26Position: Scrum half


Damian Stevens: Age: 21Position: Scrum halfCaps: 1 | Club: UWC

Theuns Kotze: Age: 28Position: Fly half

Caps: 25 | Club: Bourg en Bresse

Darryl de la Harpe: Age: 32| Position: Centre Caps: 26 | Club: Western

Suburbs

Johan Deysel: Age: 23Position: Centre

Caps: 9 | Club: Leopards

JC Greyling: Age: 24Position: Centre

Caps: 8 | Club: Old Wesley

Danie van Wyk: Age: 29Position: Centre

Caps: 13 | Club: United

Heinrich Smit: Age: 25Position: Wing

Caps: 11 | Club: Leopards

Conrad Marais: Age: 26Position: Wing | Caps: 8

Club: Beziers

David Philander: Age: 28Position: Wing | Caps: 23

Club: Spotswood

Russel van Wyk: Age: 25Position: Wing | Caps: 4Club: Western Suburbs

Chrysander Botha: Age: 27Position: Fullback | Caps: 33

Club: Exeter Chiefs

Johan Tromp: Age: 25Position: Fullback


Phil Davies Position:

Head coach

Pieter RossouwPosition:

Backline coach

Henry KempPosition: Assistant

forward coach

Roger Thompson Position: Assistant

backline coach

Wessel Kotze Position:

Team manager


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n May the Welwitchias run as smoothly as an engine oiled by Shell Helix lubricants. Congratulations for representing Namibia once again in the Rugby World Cup.


France 1999 - Debut marked by infighting

Namibia qualified for the 1999 World Cup after beating Zimbabwe 32-26, Morocco 17-8

and Ivory Coast 22-10 in qualifying matches the previous year, with local coach Johan Venter at the helm.

Internal politics however played a role in his dismissal as a “concerned group” claimed that there were not enough black players in the team and labeled Venter a racist and before he knew it he had been replaced as the national coach by his technical advisor, Rudi Joubert of South Africa.

Quinn Hough a farmer from Gobabis captained the team who’s standout players included fullback Lean van Dyk, winger Attie Samuelson, lock Heino Senekal and flanker Schalk van der Merwe, who was converted into a centre by coach Rudi Joubert.

Namibia were comprehensively beaten 67-18 by Fiji in their first match on October 1. Fiji ran in nine tries, while Namibia scored two, through prop Mario Jacobs and lock Heino Senekal, while fullback Leandre van Dyk added two penalties and a conversion.

A week later Namibia gave an inspired performance in a 47-13 defeat to France after trailing 23-13 at halftime. Attie Samuelson scored a great first half try, cutting through France’s backline and diving over behind the posts, and after the match they were warmly applauded by the 34 000 French fans.

That was however as good as it got as Namibia lost their final group match 72-11 to Canada, after trailing 31-6 at halftime. Captain and eighthman Quinn Hough scored Namibia’s only try.

At the end of the tournament Namibia was ranked 19th out of the 20 competing nations, just ahead of Italy on points aggregate.

Australia 2003 - Humiliation down under

Namibia once again qualified for the 2003 World Cup in Australia, after beating Tunisia, Zimbabwe and

Madagascar in their qualifying pool. Their 116-0 victory against Madagascar in 2002 was their biggest ever victory, but the gulf between these opponents and the world’s leading rugby nations was clearly exposed at the World Cup the following year.

Namibia was poorly prepared for the 2003 World Cup after administrative problems off the field, and disunity in the squad between the coach Dave Waterston and the players. Before the World Cup had even started, two players withdrew from the squad due to differences with Waterston, while assistant coach Paul Kaplan also resigned.

Namibia lost 67-14 to Argentina in their opening match on 14 October. Argentina scored 10 tries, including two penalty tries, while Namibia scored two tries through centre Du Preez Grobler and scrumhalf Hakkies Husselman, which were both converted by flyhalf Emile Wessels.

Five days later Namibia lost 64-7 to Ireland, which at that stage was Ireland’s biggest victory at the World Cup. Ireland scored 10 tries while centre Corne Powell scored Namibia’s only try, converted by Emile Wessels.

Their biggest humiliation however came against the hosts at the Adelaide Oval on October 25 when Australia swept Namibia aside with disdain. Australia attacked from the start, scoring one try after the other to eventually run out 142-0 victors. It was the biggest winning margin in the history of the Rugby World Cup, and only slightly behind the record winning score of 145-17 by New Zealand against Japan in 1995.

Namibia lost their final match 37-7 against Uruguay, with lock Eben Isaacks scoring the only try, to finish last amongst the 20 nations.

PIONEERS … The Namibian team that participated at the 2003 World Cup lines up before a match. Photo: Archive

CLEARANCE KICK … Namibian scrum half Hakkies Husselman clears the ball against Ireland. Photo: Archive

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Australia in 2003, France in 2007, New Zealand in 2011 and the United

Kingdom in 2015.

Namibia at the

IRISH CHARGE … Jacques Nieuwenhuis and Kees Lensing in action against Ireland at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Photo: Archive

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France 2007 – History repeats itself

By 2006 the NRU and Johan Venter had patched up their differences and he was once again appointed

national coach, but more consternation was to lay in store for Venter.

He once again qualified for the World Cup after beating Kenya, Tunisia and Morocco in their group matches, and Morocco 52-15 on aggregate in the African qualifying final.

But history repeated itself as Venter was sacked on 13 June, 2007, allegedly because of unbecoming conduct for not attending a function in honour of the William Webb Ellis Rugby trophy, and was replaced by assistant coach Hakkies Husselman.

The squad was captained by prop Kees Lensing and included standout players like flankers Jacques Burger and Jacques Nieuwenhuis, and locks Nico Esterhuizen and Wacca Kazombiaze.

Namibia started off with a great performance against Ireland, turning around a 27-3 halftime deficit to 27-17 with tries by Nieuwenhuis and centre Piet van Zyl, both converted by Emile Wessels, before a late try gave Ireland a 32-17 victory.

The rest of the World Cup was however a bit of an anticlimax for Namibia as they were thrashed 87-10 by France, with Nieuwenhuis being red-carded for a high tackle on Marc Chabal, and 63-3 by Argentina.

Namibia’s points against France came via a drop goal by Wessels and a late try by centre Bradley Langenhoven, converted by TC Losper.

Namibia were hoping to register their first World Cup victory in their final match against Georgia on 26 September, but it was not to be as the powerful Georgians won the match 30-0 in a hard, physical battle.

New Zealand 2011 - Courageous performances

Namibia qualified for the 2011 Rugby World Cup after beating Senegal 13-10 and Zimbabwe

35-21 in Pool A of the African qualifiers, before beating Tunisia 40-23 on aggregate in the final.

With a strong and settled squad, led by star flanker Jacques Burger and coached by Johan Diergaardt, Namibia was confident of winning their first match at the Rugby World Cup.

But Namibia was drawn in the Group of Death along with defending World Champions South Africa, Wales, Fiji and Samoa, and they once again lost all their group matches.

In their opening match on 10 September they put up a gutsy performance before losing 49-25 to Fiji. For Namibia lock Heinz Koll and fullback Chrysander Botha scored tries while flyhalf Theuns Kotze added three drop goals within four minutes and two penalties.

Four days later Samoa overpowered Namibia to score a comprehensive 49-12 victory.

Namibia were playing catch up rugby from the start after Samoa scored their opening try in the first minute, but Namibia never gave up and with Jacques Burger giving an impressive display, they were rewarded with two second half tries through centre Danie van Wyk and flyhalf Theuns Kotze.

On 22 September the South African Springboks recorded a runaway 87-0 victory against Namibia after leading 31-0 at halftime. The Springboks ran in 12 tries in total, while Bryan Habana set a new Springbok Test try scoring record of 39 tries.

With little possession, the outcome was never in doubt as Namibia had to defend for most of the match.

On 26 September, Namibia put in a

gutsy effort but could not match Wales’ power as they lost their final World Cup match 81-7, after trailing 22-0 at halftime.

Wales wore Namibia down in the final quarter and eventually ran in 12 tries for an emphatic victory.

For Namibia, lock Heinz Koll scored a great try after a counterattack from the halfway line, which was converted by Theuns Kotze.

DOWN A BOK … Jacques Nieuwenhuis tackles South Africa’s Schalk Burger with team mate Lu-Wayne Botes looking on during a warm-up match for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Photo: Archive

BATTERING RAM … Namibian flanker Jacques Burger on the attack against the Springboks in a World Cup warm-up match in 2007 with teammate Tinus du Plessis up in support. Photo: Archive

Rugby World Cup

HANGING ON … Namibian wing Conrad Marais is caught by Springbok centre Jaques Fourie with team mate Danie Dames up in support at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Photo: Archive

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Namibiaat the 2015 World Cup


Jacques Burger will lead his country for the second time at a Rugby Word Cup tournament after making his debut as captain in New Zealand four

years ago. Despite Namibia losing all of its matches, Burger gave some fantastic performances and at the end of the tournament was selected as one of the five top players of the World Cup. He is also a standout player for his English club Saracens, helping them win the English Premiership this year, while he made the shortlist for the 2014 European Player of the Year award. The Namibian spoke to Burger about the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

How does this World Cup compare to the 2011 World Cup?

There are a lot of differences and I think things are done much more professionally now. We have the right structures in place, which we haven’t had for a long time, and you can see the management is working with a plan and working towards a successful campaign at the World Cup so I hope things all come together.

We are definitely better conditioned and in better shape physically - stronger and faster and the ball handling is also better - so as a whole, the team is definitely in a better place.

Your first match will be up against the world champions New Zealand on 24 September. How do you think you will do?

One has to be realistic - they are the best team in the world and they often make top teams look bad. We are rated 20th and a lot of our players are still amateurs so there’s a big difference.

We will just go out and give our absolute best and there is not much more that we can do. People have to be realistic and look at what the All Blacks have achieved over the years compared to who we are and where we come from - I think we only have 1 000 registered rugby players in Namibia. New Zealand is an incredible rugby nation and from a young age kids grow up with a rugby ball in their hands - they are the best in the world and it’s going to be very tough. It’s going to be the first time that we will face the Haka so its going to be a great occasion and something that you will remember one day when you sit around the fire.

Do you think you can win a first-ever match at the World Cup?

I think we can win but it wont be easy. Georgia’s rugby has grown a lot over the past few years and they have many more professional players than we do, who play in France and across the world.

Tonga is always a very dangerous team and their players also play professionally across the world, and

Argentina play in the Rugby Championship against the All Blacks, the Wallabies and the Springboks, so it’s going to be very difficult. But that’s our aim - if you don’t have a goal and something to work towards then it doesn’t help that you go to the World Cup - you have to go to win a game and that’s our aim.

What does it mean for you to be a Namibian?I’m very patriotic and I love my country a lot. I was

born and raised here and my family stays here and I just have good memories of this country. I am also very thankful for Namibian rugby for where I am today - even though there have been ups and downs. By playing for Namibia I managed to play in England so I am thankful for that.

But Namibian rugby has not been a good example for the youth for the last ten years or so, which is sad. A country that’s so hungry for success - our people need heroes and people who can inspire them and I think that’s what we have to do, we have an ideal opportunity to do that. I personally try and do that - I make time to chat to people wherever I am and I try and help where

I can because I know it’s our duty to plough back into Namibian rugby. I’d like the youth to look up to the Namibian rugby team and the people who have lost trust in us must want to come back to the stadium to support us again.

How do you see the image of Namibian rugby?There is still a long road to go and I think the

image of rugby in Namibia has been damaged in the past and people have lost a lot of trust due to things happening off the field of play. That’s unfortunate because the players have nothing to do with that, but I think if we can get the politics out of rugby and get our structures right we can develop a successful team which will inspire the children of Namibia and which will make the sport grow. I want this team to be role models for the people of Namibia and we must try and make people proud to be Namibian. For instance, people must want to put on their Namibian jersey over weekends instead of the Springbok jersey. But first we have to win their trust and I hope we can make them proud at the World Cup.

Captain courageous - Jacques Burger We are definitely

better conditioned and in better

shape physically - stronger and

faster and the ball handling is also better - so as a whole, the team is definitely in a better place.

Namibia’s match venues Sandy Park - Exeter

Sandy Park is situated in the south-western English city of Exeter and is home to the English Premiership team

Exeter Chiefs, for whom Namibian fullback Chrysander Botha plays.

It has a capacity of 12 500 spectators and will host three matches at the Rugby World Cup.

Two of Namibia’s matches will be hosted at Exeter Park - against Tonga on 29 September and against Georgia on 7 October.

The third match is the Group D encounter between Italy and Romania on 11 October.

Olympic Stadium - London

The Olympic Stadium was constructed to serve as the host stadium for the 2012 London Olympic Games

and is situated in the east London district of Stratford. It had a capacity of 80 000 for the Olympics but has

since been renovated and will have a capacity of 54 000 people for the Rugby World Cup.

From next year it will serve as the home of West Ham United Football Club.

The Olympic Stadium will host four group matches, including Namibia’s opening match against New Zealand on 24 September, as well as the bronze medal play-off match.

The other Group matches are France v Romania on 23 September, Ireland v Italy on 4 October and South Africa v United States on 7 October.

Leicester City Stadium

Leicester City Stadium is situated in the central English city of Leicester and is the home ground of the

English football Premiership team Leicester City. The all-seater stadium was inaugurated in July 2002

and has a capacity of 32 262.It will host three matches at the Rugby World Cup

including Namibia’s final group match against Argentina on 11 October.

The other matches are the Group C match between Argentina and Tonga on 4 October and the Group D match between Canada and Romania on 6 October.

LEADING FROM THE FRONT … Namibian captain Jacques Burger in action against the Springboks at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Photo: Archive


Captain courageous - Jacques Burger

Namibia’s qualification for this year’s Rugby World Cup is the stuff

of dreams - of legends and folklore - and of triumph against all odds.

The journey the team had to undertake to reach the pinnacle was a long and arduous one and hardly seemed like ending in triumph when they were relegated to Division 1B of the African Cup following their return from the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Then a broke NRU withdrew from the 2011 Africa Cup in Kenya and Namibia was relegated to Division 1B where they had to take on the likes of Madagascar, Morocco and Senegal the following year.

Playing at the Mahamasina Stadium in Antananarivo, Namibia just managed to scrape past Senegal with a 20-18 victory to qualify for the final against Madagascar.

In an extraordinary match, played in front of 35 000 fanatical Malagasy fans, Madagascar streaked into a 19-0 lead midway through the first half, and by halftime held a 29-14 lead.

Namibia came back strongly in the second half and seemed set for victory when they led 43-29 with 10 minutes to go. Madagascar however scored two late tries to tie the score at 43-all and send the match into extra time.

Here Namibia took a 54-50 lead but Madagascar struck back with a last minute try to win the match 57-54.

With the defeat Namibia made a bit of unwanted history as it was the highest score for a losing team in an international Test match. Madagascar were promoted to Division 1A while Namibia remained in 1B, where they had one more chance to qualify for the 2015 World Cup when the Division 1B qualifier took place in Senegal in June 2013.

Namibia beat the hosts Senegal 35-12 in their opening match to qualify for the final, where they came up against Tunisia.

By halftime Namibia held a narrow 13-6 lead but they turned on the style to run in four more tries in the second half and

complete a comfortable 45-13 victory.

By winning the Division 1B title Namibia gained promotion to Division 1A where the final qualifiers for RWC 2015 took place in Madagascar in June 2014.

Drama in Antananarivo

If Namibia’s 57-54 defeat to Madagascar in 2012 was an extraordinary result, no one could have foreseen the drama, upsets and permutations that the 2014 qualifying tournament would deliver.

Namibia lost their opening match 29-22 to Kenya but kept their hopes alive with a narrow 24-20 victory against Zimbabwe.

When the final round of matches arrived, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Namibia were all still in with a chance of winning the group, and Namibia’s chances of success were also dependant on the outcome between Zimbabwe and Kenya.

They had to hope that Kenya did not win the match or get a bonus point for a defeat of less than seven points, while Zimbabwe could not score more than four tries for a bonus point victory.

Things worked out perfectly for Namibia as Zimbabwe beat Kenya 28-10, while the Sables, astonishingly enough, spurned a chance to get a fifth try and an extra bonus point when they kicked for posts instead of going for a try in the final stages of the game.

This laid the platform for Namibia’s final match against Madagascar, but the odds were heavily stacked against Namibia as they had to win the match by at least 53 points to finish on top of the group.

Namibia however took destiny in their own hands and with an astonishing performance, ran Madagascar off the park.

Their tearaway eighth man Renaldo Bothma opened the scoring when he barged over for a try and from then on it was one way traffic as Namibia attacked at every opportunity from all corners of the field.

By halftime they had already

Namibia’s remarkablejourney to the 2015 World Cup

WE DID IT! … The Namibian team celebrates after beating Madagascar to qualify for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Photo: Archive

AFRICAN CHAMPIONS … The Namibian team poses with then Prime Minister Hage Geingob and Minister of Health Richard Kamwi on their return from Madagascar last year. Photo: Archive

scored nine tries and with Theuns Kotze giving a faultless kicking display with nine conversions, they had streaked into a 63-0 lead.

Madagascar opened their account with a try early in the second half, but Namibia maintained the pressure, running in five more tries for a sensational 89-10 victory.

With that triumph in Antananarivo they qualified for their fifth successive Rugby World Cup, while they banished their 2012 defeat to Madagascar to the history books.

8 July 2012Madagascar 57 Namibia

54 (Madagascar win Africa Cup Div 1B)

15 June 2013 Namibia 45 Tunisia 13

(Namibia win Africa Cup Div 1B)

5 July 2014Namibia 89 Madagascar 10 (Namibia win Africa

Cup Div 1A)

Most Caps:

46 Johnny Redelinghuys 43 Eugene Jantjies, Tinus du

Plessis 38 PJ van Lill 35 Hugo Horn 33 Chrysander Botha, Jacques

Burger, Nico Esterhuyse, Herman Lintvelt

28 Jaco Coetzee, Casper Dercks 27 Gerhard Mans, Heino Senekal,

Henning Snyman 26 Darryl de la Harpe, Corne

Powell 25 Du Preez Grobler, Theuns Kotze 24 Deon Mouton

Most Points:

335 Jaco Coetzee 309 Theuns Kotze 158 Morne Schreuder 147 Chrysander Botha 118 Gerhard Mans 109 Rudi van Vuuren 98 Eden Meyer 94 Emile Wessels 70 Lean van Dyk 67 Jaco Kotze

Most Tries:

27 Gerhard Mans 21 Eden Meyer 16 Chrysander Botha 12 Melrick Africa 11 Rohan Kitshoff10 Corne Powell, Du Preez

Grobler, Riaan van Wyk

9 Johan Barnard8 Johan Tromp, Herman Lintvelt,

Attie Samuelson, Basie Buitendag

7 Renaldo Bothma, Jaco Kotze 6 David Philander, Tinus du

Plessis, Jacques Nieuwenhuis, Jaco Coetzee, Quinn Hough, Andre Stoop, Henning Snyman, Deon Mouton, Ben Swartz, Stephan Smith

5 Johnny Redelinghuys, Jacques Burger, Heinrich Smit, Conrad Marais, Russel van Wyk

Most points in a match:

33 Justinus van der Westhuizen30 Jaco Coetzee29 Chrysander Botha 26 Moolman Olivier 25 Theuns Kotze, Riaan van Wyk

24 Theuns Kotze, Gerhard Mans, Morne Schreuder

22 Theuns Kotze20 Theuns Kotze, Eden Meyer

Most tries in a match:

6 Gerhard Mans 5 Riaan van Wyk 4 Renaldo Bothma, Eden Meyer,

Melrick Africa 3 Gerhard Mans, Basie

Buitendag, Attie Samuelson, Ben Swartz, Johan Barnard, Conrad Marais

Most matches as captain:

26 Gerhard Mans 14 Jacques Burger 13 Corne Powell 12 Kees Lensing

10 Quinn Hough

Youngest Players:

Andre de Klerk 18 years 176 days Ryan Witbooi 18 years 342 days Morne Louw 18 years 345 days

Oldest Players:

Manie Grobler 38 years 187 days Khaki Goosen 36 years 103 days Jane du Toit 35 years 359 days

Biggest Test victory:

112-0 vs Madagascar, 15 June 2002

Biggest Test defeat:

142-0 vs Australia, 25 October 2003

Namibia rugby statistics


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As part of their preparation for the Rugby World Cup,

Namibia hosted Russia in a two-test series in July.

Namibia had never beaten Russia before, with the Russians winning their two previous encounters in Windhoek 31-12 in 1994 and 30-15 in 2010.

This time however Russia came up against a much-improved Namibian

team, led by flanker Jacques Burger, who was playing in Namibia for the first time since November 2009.

Namibia got their Windhoek Draught Friendship Series off to a winning start with a 39-19 victory against Russia on 11 July, but although they scored some scintillating tries, they played in fits and starts and struggled

100% behind our boys.We’re not just sponsors. We’re believers. We know the Welwitschia team will make Namibia proud at the Rugby World Cup. So let’s give them all the support we can.

to break down Russia’s defence.

Nothing much separated the sides at halftime with Namibia holding a narrow 13-12 lead, but two opportunistic tries and a strong finish by the home side saw Namibia complete a comfortable victory.

Namibia scored five tries through Eugene Jantjies, JC Greyling, Johan Deysel and a brace by man of the match Russell van Wyk, while Theuns Kotze added two penalties and three conversions and Eugene Jantjies one conversion.

Russia scored three tries through Igor Galinovsky, Viktor Gresev and Danila Chegodaev while Yury Kushnarev added two conversions.

A week later, Namibia gave an improved performance as they beat Russia 45-5 to win the Test series 2-0.

Namibia led 16-5 at halftime but turned on the screws in the second half to run in a total of five tries for a comfortable win.

Right wing Conrad Marais scored a hat-trick of tries and left wing Russell van Wyk scored a try, while fly half Theuns Kotze won the man of the match award with a personal tally of 25 points, consisting of a try, four conversions and four penalties.

It was a great all-round performance by Namibia who defended with grit and determination and attacked with flair and pace.

It was also a step-up from the first test, with Namibia displaying more urgency and clinical finishing the second time around.

Namibian captain, Jacques Burger was ecstatic with the series win.

“I'm extremely proud to get back-to-back test victories. It's been a while since that happened in a Namibian jersey. It's an incredible feeling,” Burger said after the pulsating encounter.

“A lot of things have changed in the last couple of months but the one thing that has not changed is the attitude of the boys.

“You can see the boys train hard. We've worked extremely hard and added a couple of new things to improve in the last two weeks. If you put in the hard work and put in your heart, it pays off and it showed out here today,” Burger said.

Namibia beat Russia 2-0

DETERMINED … Namibian centre Johan Deysel on the attack in the first test against Russia, with team mate JC Greyling up in support. Photo: Helge Schutz


to break down Russia’s defence.

Nothing much separated the sides at halftime with Namibia holding a narrow 13-12 lead, but two opportunistic tries and a strong finish by the home side saw Namibia complete a comfortable victory.

Namibia scored five tries through Eugene Jantjies, JC Greyling, Johan Deysel and a brace by man of the match Russell van Wyk, while Theuns Kotze added two penalties and three conversions and Eugene Jantjies one conversion.

Russia scored three tries through Igor Galinovsky, Viktor Gresev and Danila Chegodaev while Yury Kushnarev added two conversions.

A week later, Namibia gave an improved performance as they beat Russia 45-5 to win the Test series 2-0.

Namibia led 16-5 at halftime but turned on the screws in the second half to run in a total of five tries for a comfortable win.

Right wing Conrad Marais scored a hat-trick of tries and left wing Russell van Wyk scored a try, while fly half Theuns Kotze won the man of the match award with a personal tally of 25 points, consisting of a try, four conversions and four penalties.

It was a great all-round performance by Namibia who defended with grit and determination and attacked with flair and pace.

It was also a step-up from the first test, with Namibia displaying more urgency and clinical finishing the second time around.

Namibian captain, Jacques Burger was ecstatic with the series win.

“I'm extremely proud to get back-to-back test victories. It's been a while since that happened in a Namibian jersey. It's an incredible feeling,” Burger said after the pulsating encounter.

“A lot of things have changed in the last couple of months but the one thing that has not changed is the attitude of the boys.

“You can see the boys train hard. We've worked extremely hard and added a couple of new things to improve in the last two weeks. If you put in the hard work and put in your heart, it pays off and it showed out here today,” Burger said.

Namibia beat Russia 2-0

Namibia win Africa Cup

TEARAWAY FLANKER … Namibian flanker Wian Conradie on the attack against Kenya with captain Jacques Burger up in support. Photo: Helge Schutz

Namibia won the Africa Cup Division 1A trophy after thrashing Zimbabwe 80-6 in their final World Cup warm-up match on 15 August.

Namibia held a 28-6 lead at the break but the floodgates opened in the second half as they ran in a total of 12 tries to complete an emphatic victory in their final warm-up match before the start of the World Cup.

It was Namibia’s biggest ever victory against Zimbabwe and completely overshadowed their narrow 24-20 victory against the same side in Madagascar last year.

Namibian flanker and captain for the day, Rohan Kitshoff scored three tries and won the man of the match award, while left wing Russel van Wyk and prop forward Johnny Redelinghuys each scored two tries.

The other try scorers were centres JC Greyling and Johan Deysel, eighthman Renaldo Bothma, substitute eighthman PJ van Lill and flanker Tinus du Plessis.

Fly-half Theuns Kotze had a great day with the boot, converting 10 of the tries for a total of 20 points.

Zimbabwe’s only points came via two penalties by fly-half Tichafara Makwanya.

Namibia’s forwards laid the platform for the victory with a powerful display in the scrums and the line-outs while their rolling mauls were very impressive.

Kitshoff excelled with his high work rate while Renaldo Bothma once again impressed with his explosive runs.

Amongst the backs, Theuns Kotze stood out with his all-round game while Russell van Wyk, John Deysel and JC Greyling all put in strong performances.

After the match Namibian captain Kitshoff said their hard work was paying off.

“The scoreline flattered us a bit and we had to really graft to get the points, but we kept on kicking down the wall and in the last 20 minutes it showed.

We are definitely on an upward curve - we worked a lot on our structures and set-pieces over the past four weeks and it is now starting to pay off,” he said.

Kitshoff commended his team’s character.“The spirit in the group is awesome. I think we are a good

group of guys with strong characters and that’s what’s going to count during the World Cup. That’s when the characters are going to be revealed, so it’s always good to have a lot of leaders who show good character,” he said.

A week earlier Namibia beat Kenya 46-13 to go to the top of the Africa Cup Division 1A log and exact revenge for their 29-20 defeat last year.

That defeat in Madagascar nearly derailed Namibia’s qualification for the World Cup, but Namibia were in a different league on 8 August.

They dominated from the start and took a 25-6 lead at the break before eventually running in six tries to one.

Flyhalf Theuns Kotze once again had a great game, creating several tries, while he added 16 points with the boot, consisting of five conversions and two penalties.

Darryl de la Harpe scored two tries and David Philander, Renaldo Bothma and Chrysander Botha one each, while Namibia also got a penalty try.

For Kenya, left wing Jacob Ojee scored a late intercept try, while centre Darwin Mukidza added two penalties and a conversion.

Lock forward Tjiuee Uanivi had a great match in the loose and the line-outs and was awarded the man of the match award.

Namibia’s new caps flanker Wian Conradie and scrum half Damian Stevens also made fine debuts, with Conradie putting in numerous storming runs, while Stevens gave a sharp service to his backline. SPREADING THE GAME … Some children playing ‘Rip Rugby’ in northern Namibia during a development clinic

by the NRU. Photo: contributed

The Namibia Rugby Union is hard at work to develop and transform the game of rugby throughout the

length and breadth of the country. In collaboration with Rugby World,

the NRU launched the ‘Get into Rugby’ programme two years ago which saw them introducing taking rugby to primary schools in the rural areas through the popular ‘tag rugby’ concept.

Henry Kemp who was the NRU’s development manager at the time, spearheaded the successful programme, which has seen more than 4 000 young children introduced to the game of rugby.

“Get into Rugby is geared towards children who haven’t been involved in rugby before. The system is quite easy to understand because there is no contact or tackling, so you can have girls playing against boys because the emphasis is on skills, like getting the players to distribute the ball more quickly and running into space in stead of just trying to run over opponents like we were used to in South Africa and Namibia,” he said.

“We started the programme in Namibia in 2013 and my job was to go to schools that had never played the game before, but mainly focussing on the rural areas. I travelled all the way to Katima Mulilo, where I got a few schools involved; I went to Rundu, Oshakati and Ondangwa and then all the way down to Rosh Pinah. In the first couple of months we got about 4 000 kids taking part in the programme and they loved it, especially the girls, because now they could compete against the boys on an equal basis - it had a huge impact, and built confidence and taught them skills,’ he said.

Kemp also met the national coordinator of the Namibia Schools Sport Union (NSSU), Solly Duiker and asked him if he could introduce the concept at primary schools.

Duiker pledged that all Primary Schools that wanted to be part of the programme could play ‘Rip Rugby’ - the non-contact form of the programme - and the numbers of participants soon started to grow.

“At one school they had one team for the U-7 and U-8 players but since we started implementing Rip Rugby they now have seven teams within those two age groups so the numbers are growing,” Kemp said.

According to Kemp, he also had to struggle to change the perception of rugby being a ‘white man’s sport.’

“In 2013 I travelled 16 000km by car just to get to the various areas because I had to meet the school principals and

Rugby Development in Namibia

sell the game to them. A lot of people still think its a ‘white man’s sport’ so there is a bit of a stigma attached to it that we have to get rid of because rugby is for all and that’s part of the IRB values - ‘a game for all, played for all.’”

“If we can get this programme implemented at schools that have never played the game before, then the numbers will grow, because you don’t need a grass pitch and you can play on sand as well,” he said.

Kemp said it was a huge challenge to develop rugby in Namibia, while funding was a major problem.

“There’s plenty of talent in the rural areas, but its a big challenge just to keep the programme sustainable,” he said.

“The development programme is not just about the Rip Rugby programme, it’s about equipping coaches and getting them involved so we have to look at the bigger picture and the system as a whole to see where we can get them involved in the whole process. With Namibia being a country with huge distances to travel, it’s difficult to implement, so we need people in all the areas of the country so that they can organise the various activities in their regions, but for that you need funding and it’s a huge challenge,” he added.

High Performance Centre The NRU meanwhile also transformed

an unused building on its premises into a High Performance Centre, with the aim of leaving a lasting legacy for Namibian rugby that would continue after the World Cup.

The NRU’s director of rugby John Williams said that head coach Phil Davies would play an important role in developing the centre.

“We have started a High Performance Centre and Phil will help to develop a programme so that we can continue with it after the World Cup. The centre will include strength and conditioning, game analysis and all aspects of an efficient high performance programme. We are also looking at starting a rugby academy, with the aim of selecting a high performance group which will work on certain skills week in and week out,” he said.

“The idea is to get clubs to use the centre, as well as all the national age group teams, the senior national team and the Sevens team. We might also avail it to other sport codes,” he added.

Davies said they are also looking at creating a Rugby Academy.

“We are also looking at an Academy and a club system to create a national development pathway to develop more Namibian players. I’ve talked to some club coaches so we are looking at implementing a license system based on facilities and a five-year plan to improve coaching structures,” he said.

HARD WORK … Namibia’s strength and conditioning coach Wayne Proctor puts prop forward Jaco Engels through his paces at the High Performance Centre. Photo: Helge Schutz


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Group A Also known as the ‘Group of Death’, the outcome of Group A is the most difficult to predict. An unkind draw has seen three of the top six nations in the world beign drawn together with the result that one of Australia (ranked second in the world), Wales (ranked fifth) and the host nation England (sixth) will not make the quarterfinals. Then there are still the magical Fijians (ranked ninth) who reached the quarterfinals in 2007 and could spring a surprise, while 19th ranked and un-fancied Uruguay completes the group.

Uruguay will be going to their third World Cup after previous appearances in 1999 and 2003.

‘Los Teros’ who are ranked 19th in the world, failed to qualify directly for this year’s World Cup, after finishing second in the Consur Cup - the South America Rugby Championship - behind Argentina.

They played the runners-up of the North America Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) Rugby Championship, the United States, losing 59-40 over two legs, but had one final chance to qualify in the repechage play-offs, where they beat Russia 57-49 on aggregate over two matches in the final.

Lock Santiago Vilaseca, aged 30, captains the squad and is one of 26 domestic-based players, with four playing professionally in France and Italy.

Fly-half Felipe Berchesi was a key figure in Uruguay’s qualifying campaign, scoring 75 points in the five-match series of Americas/Repechage play-offs.

Flanker Diego Magno who made his debut in 2008, is the most capped player in the squad with 48 caps, while the squad boasts a combined total of 812 caps at an average of 26 per player.

In their World Cup warm-up matches, Los Teros beat an Argentina XV side 30-26 on 1 August, while they lost 30-8 to Uruguay on 22 August.

Uruguay

England

England have won the World Cup once before and as the hosts for this year’s tournament they will fancy their chances

of doing so again.They won the trophy in 2003 when Johnny

Wilkinson landed a drop goal in extra time to beat Australia 20-17, while they finished as runners-up twice - in 1991 and 2007.

England are currently ranked sixth in the world but there is very little to choose between them and third-ranked Ireland, judging by this year’s Six Nations Championship.

In one of the most exciting finishes in memory, England, Ireland and Wales all finished joint top of the log, with Ireland narrowly winning the trophy on points difference.

Over the past month England have played two warm-up matches against France, winning

19-14 on their home ground at Twickenham on 15 August, but losing 25-20 in Paris a week later. They also beat Ireland 21-13 at Twickenham on 5 September.

England have a big pack of forwards which includes captain and flanker Chris Robshaw, flanker James Haskell and the Vunipola brothers prop Mako and eighthman Billy who were born in Tonga.

Amongst the backs fly half Owen Farrell, wing Jonny May and fullback Mike Brown stand out, but centre Sam Burgess, could emerge as their star player.

Before switching to Rugby Union this year, he excelled as a Rugby League player and last year became the first Englishman to win the International Rugby League Player of the Year award.

Wales

Wales are currently ranked fifth in the world and as a co-host of the World Cup, they will also fancy their chances

to do well. The Welsh Dragons have a proud history as one of the top ranked nations in the world while they have consistently done well at the World Cup.

In 2011 they narrowly missed out on a place in the final when they lost 9-8 to France in the semifinals before eventually finishing fourth.

They also finished third at the inaugural World Cup in 1987 while they reached the knockout stages at the 1999 and 2003 World Cups.

This year they have had a great season and narrowly missed out on winning the Six Nations trophy after losing out to Ireland on points difference.

The two teams faced off again in two World Cup warm-up matches last month, with Ireland

winning the first encounter 35-21 in Cardiff, but Wales bounced back to win the second one 16-10 in Dublin.

On 5 September they beat Italy 23-19 in Cardiff but lost fullback Leigh Halfpenny and scrum half Rhys Webb due to injury and they were later ruled out of the World Cup.

Especially Halfpenny’s withdrawal is a huge setback since he is Wales’ star kicker and their third highest point scorer in history.

Flanker Sam Warburton will once again captain the side, as he did in New Zealand in 2011, while other stand-out forwards include flankers Dan Lydiate and Justin Tipuric, lock Alun Wyn Jones and eighthman Taulupe Faletau.

Star players amongst the backs include scrum half Mike Phillips, centre Jamie Roberts and winger George North, who has already scored 22 tries in 50 Tests.

Fiji

Fiji are renowned for their flair and prowess at Sevens rugby, having won the Sevens World Cup twice and producing

legends of the game like Waisale Serevi and Marika Vunibaka.

They have not been that successful in the 15-man code, but with their natural flair and quicksilver backs, they are capable of beating the best.

The ‘Flying Fijians’ who are currently ranked ninth in the world, reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup on two occasions in 1987 and 2007.

At the latter tournament they beat Wales 38-34 in a match described by many as one of the best ever, while they nearly shocked eventual champions South Africa in the quarterfinals, before losing 37-20.

In the run-up to this year’s World Cup they had a successful campaign in the Pacific Nations Cup tournament as they won the trophy after beating Samoa 39-29 in the final. They had earlier drawn 30-30 against Samoa in the group stages, while beating Tonga 30-22 and Japan 27-22.

They are captained by flanker Akapusi Qera who will be appearing at his third World Cup, while they have two vice-captains in centre Vereniki Goneva and hooker Sunia Koto.

They once again have some brilliant backs in their squad like Crusaders wing Nemani Nadolo, wing Waisea Nayacalevu, centre Gabiriele Lovobalavu and flyhalf Ben Volavola, while lock forward Leone Nakarawa was the top try scorer at the Pacific Nations Cup with four tries.

Australia are one of the most successful rugby nations in the world and one of only three countries to have won the

World Cup on two occasions. In 1991 their captain Nick Farr-Jones lifted

the trophy for the first time after they beat England 12-6 in the final, while John Eales led them to victory in 1999 when they beat France 35-12 in the final.

Besides that the Wallabies finished as runners-up in 2003 when they lost 20-17 to England after extra time, while they finished third in 2011 and fourth in 1987.

They are once again one of the favourites to win the trophy this year and underlined that status by winning the Rugby Championship for the first time since 2011, after beating the All Blacks 27-19 on 8 August.

Before that they beat South Africa 24-20 in Brisbane after a last minute try by centre Tevita Kuridrani and Argentina 34-9 in Mendoza.

They have a good mixture of youth and experience with three of their players - captain and hooker Stephen Moore, centre Matt Giteau and wing Adam Ashley Cooper - all playing at their third World Cups, while 13 players will be making their debut at the World Cup.

Some of their outstanding players include the multi-talented fullback Israel Folau who was a Rugby League star before changing codes; the ball-winning flankers Michael Hooper and David Pocock, the mercurial flyhalf Quade Cooper and their exciting backs Henry Speight, Matt Toomua and Tevita Kuridrani.

Australia

MULTI-SKILLED … Australia fullback Israel Folau on the attack against New Zealand. Photo: Nampa-AP

LOOK OUT … England wing Jonny May in action against Samoa. Photo: Nampa-Reuters

NO WAY THROUGH … Wales centre Jamie Roberts is tackled by Kieran Reid of New Zealand. Photo: Nampa-AP

IN FULL FLIGHT … Fiji flanker Dom Waqaniburotu on the charge against Canada. Photo: Nampa-AFP

CRASH TACKLES … Uruguay’s Rodrigo Silva and Franco Lamanna tackle Argentina A’s Tomas Granella during a World Cup warm-up match. Photo: Nampa-Reuters


Group BSouth Africa are the firm favourites to finish at the top of Group B but who else will qualify for the knockout stages is anyone’s guess. There is not much to choose between the other four contenders who are all within six places of each other on the world rankings. Scotland (10th) and Samoa (12th) are the favourites and their clash on 10 October could prove decisive, but Japan (14th) and USA (16th) will also fancy their chances in a wide open group.

Along with New Zealand and Australia, South Africa is the most successful nation at the World Cup, having won the

trophy on two occasions, in 1995 and 2007. The ‘Springboks’ have traditionally been the

second ranked nation behind New Zealand, but after a recent defeat to Argentina their ranking fell down to fifth.

In this year’s Rugby Championship they were very competitive but didn’t have much to show for it. They lost 24-20 to Australia after conceding a last minute try and a week later lost 27-20 to New Zealand in similar fashion after leading for most of the match.

Their nadir however came on 8 August when they slumped to a 37-20 defeat against Argentina in Durban - their first ever defeat to the Jaguars. A week later they managed to turn

the tables with a 26-12 victory in Buenos Aires, but the powerful Springboks had fallen to an all-time low of fifth in the world.

Some of their top players like captain Jean de Villiers, scrum half Fourie du Preez, flanker Willem Alberts, lock Pieter Steph du Toit and eighthman Duane Vermeulen only recently returned from injury, but they have a powerful and experienced squad which includes nine players from their 2007 World Cup winning squad and some exciting newcomers.

Some of their experienced stars include Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen, Fourie du Preez, Tendai Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, Victor Matfield and Schalk Burger, while some upcoming stars to keep an eye on include Willie le Roux, Handre Pollard, Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende.

South Africa

Samoa did not participate at the first World Cup in 1987 but have been to each one since then.

Over the three next World Cups they established themselves as one of the top rugby nations by reaching the quarterfinals on each occasion. Their greatest achievements at the World Cup came in 1991 when they stunned Wales 16-13 and at the 1999 World Cup when they once again beat Wales 38-31 to reach the quarterfinals.

Since then however they haven’t reached the quarterfinals, although they suffered narrow defeats against South Africa (13-5) and Wales (17-10) at the 2011 World Cup.

‘Manu Samoa’ last month reached the final of the Pacific Nations Cup where they lost 39-29

to fellow Pacific islanders Fiji, after drawing 30-30 against them in the group stages. In other group matches they beat United States 21-16 and Canada 21-20, and in recent warm-up matches they lost 27-24 to a Barbarians team and beat English Premiership side Wasps 25-19.

The team is captained by flanker Ofisa Treviranus who plays for London Irish in the English Premiership and consists almost entirely of foreign based professionals.

Some of their stand-out players include hooker Motu Matu’u and centre Rey Lee-Lo who both play for the Wellington Hurricanes, Newcastle Falcons wing Alesana Tuilagi, Leicester Tigers prop Logovi’i Mulipola and the three Pisi brothers, Ken, George and Tusi.

Samoa

The USA qualified for the World Cup as Americas 2, or the second nation from the Americas region.

Canada defeated the USA 40-20 on aggregate in a two-legged play-off to qualify for the World Cup as Americas 1. The USA progressed to the NACRA-CONSUR (North America Caribbean Rugby Association-South American Rugby Championship) play-off final to determine who qualified as Americas 2.

Here they came up against Uruguay and emerged victorious 59-40 on aggregate over two matches.

They have qualified for all the World Cup finals except in South Africa in 1995, and have recorded two victories against Japan and one against Russia on the world’s biggest stage.

They finished fifth at the Pacific Nations Cup after beating Canada 15-13 on 3 August, while they suffered two defeats and one victory in the group stages. They beat Japan 23-18, but lost 21-16 to Samoa and 33-19 to Tonga.

In recent World Cup warm-up matches they beat Canada 41-23 but lost 47-10 to Australia.

The United States team is captained by centre Chris Wyles who plays for English Premiership side Saracens and includes 13 players with professional contracts abroad.

Wyles, Mike Petri, Mate Moeakiola, Taku Ngwenya, and Louis Stanfill will be appearing at their third World Cups, but overall its quite an inexperienced squad with 20 players making their debuts at the World Cup.

United States

Japan have been to each World Cup since 1991 but they don’t have a very successful record.

The ‘Brave Blossoms’’ only victory to date came in 1991 when they beat Zimbabwe, 51-12 while they drew 23-23 against Canada four years ago.

In 1995 New Zealand beat them 145-17, which is the highest winning score yet in the World Cup.

The team will be captained by flanker Michael Leitch who plays for Waikato Chiefs in the Super 15, and includes 10 players who were at the 2011 World Cup. Two of them - lock forward Hitoshi Ono – the most capped player in the squad with 93 tests – and fellow lock Luke Thompson, will be appearing at their third World Cup.

Loose-forward Michael Broadhurst is the brother of one-cap All Black lock James Broadhurst, while other stars include former Queensland Reds flanker Hendrick Tui and former Australian Rugby League utility back Craig Wing.

Japan has been one of the busiest teams in the lead-up to the World Cup, playing eight matches since 18 July.

They finished third in the Pacific Nations Cup after losing 31-20 to Japan, while in the group matches they beat Canada 20-6 and lost 23-18 to the United States and 27-22 to Fiji.

On 15 August they lost 45-20 to a World XV Invitation side, but their form improved since then as they beat Uruguay 30-8 and 40-0 in Tokyo, and Georgia 13-10 in Gloucester.

Japan

Scotland have an enviable record at the Rugby World Cup, where they have been to each tournament since the

inaugural one in 1987.Their best performance came in 1991 when

they reached the semifinals and finished fourth overall, while they reached the quarterfinals in 1987, 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007. The only time they didn’t reach the quarterfinals, in fact, was in 2011 when they finished third in their group behind England and Argentina.

As a co-host of the World Cup, Scotland will have home ground advantage, while they will also be boosted by some fine form in recent World Cup warmup matches.

On 15 August they narrowly lost 28-22 to

Ireland in Dublin, and a week later they beat Italy 16-12 in Turin.

On 29 August they thrashed Italy 48-7 in Edinburgh and a week later they narrowly lost 19-16 to France in Paris.

The team is captained by scrumhalf Greig Laidlaw and includes three players - prop Alasdair Dickinson, hooker Ross Ford and wing Sean Lamont - who will be playing at their third World Cup.

The team includes two South Africans - former Lions captain and flanker Josh Strauss, who will qualify to represent Scotland on 19 September, a day after the tournament starts, and prop Willem Nel who also qualified through residency this year.

Scotland

POWERFUL … Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth breaks through a tackle against Wales. Photo: Nampa-Reuters

SPEED MERCHANT … Scotland wing Tim Visser on the attack against Ireland. Photo: Nampa-AP

FINISHER … Brando Vaalu of Samoa on his way to scoring a try against Italy. Photo: Backpagepix

NIMBLE … Japan’s Kenki Fukuoka on the attack in a warm-up match against a World XV. Photo: Nampa-AFP

BARGING AHEAD … Cameron Dolan of the United States barges ahead against Japan. Photo: Nampa-AFP


Group C The world champions New Zealand are expected to top the group while Argentina are the favourites to grab the second spot to qualify for the knockout stages. Tonga could test Argentina, while Namibia and Georgia will be playing for pride, with Namibia out to win it’s first match at the World Cup.

Namibia qualified for their fifth successive World Cup when they beat Madagascar 89-10 in June last year to win the Africa Cup Division 1A tournament. That’s

a remarkable record for a country with hardly 1 000 senior players to choose from, while only a handful of them are professionals playing abroad, but they are still searching for that elusive first win at the World Cup.

Namibia didn’t have a very good campaign at the Nations Cup in Romania in June where they lost all of their matches against the Argentina Jaguars, Spain and Romania.

Since Phil Davies took over as head coach following the sudden resignation of Danie Vermeulen, Namibia’s fortunes however changed as they went on a four-match unbeaten run.

Namibia, who are ranked 20th in the world, beat Russia 39-19 and 45-5 in two test matches and then beat Kenya

46-13 and Zimbabwe 80-6 to win the Africa Cup Division 1A title.

Namibia’s outstanding player is their inspirational captain Jacques Burger who plays for English Premiership champions Saracens.

Besides Burger, several others have made their mark for professional clubs abroad including loose forward Renaldo Bothma who plays for the Sharks, lock Tjiuee Uanivi (Brive), fullback Chrysander Botha (Exeter Chiefs), fly half Theuns Kotze (Bourg en Bresse) and eighthman PJ van Lill (Dax).

The team includes 14 players who competed at the 2011 World Cup, while four players - Burger, Tinus du Plessis, Euugene Jantjies and Johnny Redelinghuys - also competed at the 2007 World Cup.

Argentina who are ranked eighth in the world will be strongly favoured to reach the quarterfinals along with New

Zealand from Group C.Argentina’s ‘Los Pumas’ are one of the top

rugby nations in the world and have competed at all the World Cups since 1987.

Their best result came in 2007 when they finished third after beating France 34-10 in the bronze medal playoff match.

They have come on in great strides in recent years thanks to their participation in the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship since 2012, facing world powers New Zealand, Australia and South Africa regularly.

Their first victory in the Rugby Championship came last year when they beat Australia 21-17, while they recently shocked South Africa with a 37-25 victory in Durban,

which saw them finishing third behind the winners Australia and New Zealand and ahead of South Africa.

Their 31-man squad includes five veterans from their 2007 World Cup squad in forwards Juan Fernandez Lobbe, Juan Manuel Leguizamon and Marcos Ayerza and backs Horacio Agulla and Juan Martin Hernandez.

Four of them, excluding Hernandez who was injured, also played at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand along with another seven players in the squad.

Players to look out for include right wing Juan Imhoff, who scored a hattrick of tries in their victory against the Springboks, flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez and their pack of forwards, who are renowned for their powerful scrumming.

Argentina

New Zealand is the top ranked rugby nation in the world and once again big favourites to win the World Cup.

They have won the World Cup twice, making them the most successful nation at the World Cup, along with Australia and South Africa, while they finished runner-ups once, third twice and fourth once.

They are the defending World Cup champions after winning the title in New Zealand four years ago and their dominance is such that they have only lost three matches since then.

Their most recent defeat was a 27-19 loss to Australia in the Rugby Championship on 8 August, but they immediately atoned for that when they thrashed Australia 41-13 a week later.

Australia’s victory saw them winning the

Rugby Championship for the first time in four years, but New Zealand has dominated the competition, winning 13 of the 20 titles since its inception in 1996.

During the Rugby Championship they comfortably beat Argentina at home in Christchurch while they also beat South Africa away in Johannesburg.

They have a star-studded squad led by a legend of the game in Richie McCaw, who is also the most capped rugby player in the world with 142 caps.

Other stars include fly half Dan Carter, eighthman Kieran Reid, hooker Keven Mealamu, lock Brodie Retallick, flankers Jerome Kaino and Liam Messam, scrum half Aaron Smith, centres Ma’a Nonu and Sonny Bill Williams, and wings Waisake Naholo and Julian Savea.

New Zealand

Georgia will be competing at their fourth successive Rugby World Cup after making their debut in 2003 in

Australia.Their first World Cup victory came in

France in 2007 when they beat Namibia 30-0, while their second came against Romania, whom they beat 25-9 in 2011.

‘The Lelos’ have won the European Nations Cup for the past five years in a row while the bulk of their national squad plays professionally in France.

They qualified for the World Cup after winning the European Nations Cup Division 1A competition with 41 points, finishing ahead of Romania on 38 and Russia on 26 points.

In June they came third in the Tbilisi Cup after losing 45-12 to the winners Emerging Ireland and 26-10 to Emerging Italy, while they beat Uruguay 19-10.

Some of their top players include fly half Merab Kvirikashvili who is their all-time record points scorer and will be going to his fourth World Cup, and flanker Giorgi Chkhaidze who will also be going to his fourth World Cup.

Their World Cup squad also includes 18-year-old scrum half Vasil Lobzhanidze who was a member of their U-20 side that won this year’s World Rugby U-20 Trophy, and who will become the youngest ever player at the Rugby World Cup.

They are ranked 13th in the world.

Georgia

Tonga have a proud history at the Rugby World Cup, having appeared at all but one of the six tournaments to date.

Their first World Cup victory came in 1995 when they beat the Ivory Coast 29-11, while they beat Italy 28-25 in 1999.

At the 2007 World Cup in France they beat the United States and Samboa while they narrowly lost 30-25 to the eventual champions South Africa, and at the last World Cup in 2011 they pulled off a shock 19-14 victory against France.

The ‘Sea Eagles’ or ‘Ikale Tahi as they are known, finished third at the Pacific Nations Cup last month after beating Japan 31-20 in the bronze medal match. In their earlier group matches they beat the United States 33-19 and

Canada 28-22, but lost 30-22 to Fiji.The Tonga squad mostly consists of

professionals who play in England and France, while a few play in New Zealand and Australia.

They have an experienced World Cup squad which includes 12 survivors from their famous 2011 victory against France, and which is led by flanker Niili Latu who plays for English Premiership side Newcastle Falcons.

Some of their star players include flyhalf Leone Nakarawa, who also plays for the Falcons and was the joint-top try scorer at the Pacific Nations Cup along with team mate and explosive winger Fetu’u Vainikolo, and a rising star in Rebels centre Telusa Veainu.

They are ranked 11th in the world.

Tonga

Namibia

Loose-forward Michael Broadhurst is the brother of one-cap All Black lock James Broadhurst, while other stars include former Queensland Reds flanker Hendrick Tui and former Australian Rugby League utility back Craig Wing.

Japan has been one of the busiest teams in the lead-up to the World Cup, playing eight matches since 18 July.

They finished third in the Pacific Nations Cup after losing 31-20 to Japan, while in the group matches they beat Canada 20-6 and lost 23-18 to the United States and 27-22 to Fiji.

On 15 August they lost 45-20 to a World XV Invitation side, but their form improved since then as they beat Uruguay 30-8 and 40-0 in Tokyo, and Georgia 13-10 in Gloucester.

Ireland in Dublin, and a week later they beat Italy 16-12 in Turin.

On 29 August they thrashed Italy 48-7 in Edinburgh and a week later they narrowly lost 19-16 to France in Paris.

The team is captained by scrumhalf Greig Laidlaw and includes three players - prop Alasdair Dickinson, hooker Ross Ford and wing Sean Lamont - who will be playing at their third World Cup.

The team includes two South Africans - former Lions captain and flanker Josh Strauss, who will qualify to represent Scotland on 19 September, a day after the tournament starts, and prop Willem Nel who also qualified through residency this year.

NIMBLE … Japan’s Kenki Fukuoka on the attack in a warm-up match against a World XV. Photo: Nampa-AFP

BARGING AHEAD … Cameron Dolan of the United States barges ahead against Japan. Photo: Nampa-AFP

FLAT OUT … New Zealand lock Brodie Retallick on the attack against England. Photo: Nampa-AP

SLIPPERY … Argentina wing Juan Imhoff in action against France. Photo: Nampa-AFP

LOOKING FOR SUPPORT … Tonga’s Tane Takulua on the attack against Scotland. Photo: Nampa-AFP

GEORGIAN GIANT … Tamaz Mchedlidze of Georgia in action against Ireland. Photo: Nampa-AP

BREAKING THROUGH … Namibian eighthman Renaldo Bothma on the attack against Russia. Photo: Helge Schutz


Group DIreland and France are the hot favourites to advance to the quarterfinals from this group, but Italy have an outside chance to grab a spot. Canada and Romania are the two Second Tier nations in the group and will be out to cause an upset or two but are not expected to make much of an impact.

Ireland France

Ireland have played at each World Cup since 1987 but have never reached the quarterfinals. This year, however, they

have been in great form and are expected to break that unfortunate record.

Ireland have one of the strongest squads in their history and in March won the Six Nations Championship for the second year in a row after beating Scotland 40-10.

In one of the closest finishes in history they pipped England and Wales to the title on points difference.

Their only defeat in the Championship was against Wales (23-16), while they beat England 19-9 and France 18-11 amongst others.

In recent warm-up matches for the World Cup they started off well with two victories, but then slumped to two defeats.

They beat Wales 35-21 in Cardiff on 8 August and Scotland 28-22 in Dublin a week later to move up to an all time high of third on the world rankings.

Since then however, they lost 16-10 to Wales in Dublin and 21-13 to England in London to move down to sixth on the world rankings.

Ireland will be captained by the veteran lock forward Paul O Connell who has already won 104 caps for his country and who will retire after the World Cup. He will lead an experienced squad boasting more than 1 000 caps in total at an average of 34 per player.

Some of the star players include fullback Rob Kearney, wings Tommy Bowe and Simon Zebo, fly half Jonathan Sexton, and loose-forwards Sean O Brien, Jamie Heaslip and Peter O Mahoney.

France are one of the most successful nations in the history of the World Cup, having finished as runners-up

three times, third once and fourth twice. At the last World Cup in 2011 they were

quite unlucky not to win the title when they lost 8-7 to New Zealand in the final.

‘Les Tricolors’ are traditionally known for their skill and flair, and in 1999 they were involved in one of the greatest matches in World Cup history when they came from a 24-10 deficit to beat New Zealand 43-31 in the semifinals.

But they are also known for their unpredictability and have lost to teams like Tonga and Argentina at the World Cup.

This year they didn’t perform very well in the Six Nations Championship, finishing

fourth after losing to Ireland (18-11), Wales (20-13) and England (55-35). They however fared better in recent warm-up matches, losing 19-14 away to England on 15 August but then beating them 25-20 at home a week later, while they also beat Scotland 19-16 in Paris on 5 September.

They are led by inspirational flanker Thierry Dusautoir, while other star forwards include eighthman Louis Picamoles, flanker Yannick Nyanga and lock Yoann Maestri.

Amongst the backs their star players are flyhalf Frederic Michalak, who recently became France’s all-time record points scorer, scrum half Morgan Parra, and centres Gael Fickou, Mathieu Bastareaud and Wesley Fofana.

They are ranked seventh in the world.

Italy have competed at all six Rugby World Cups to date, although they have yet to qualify for the knock-out stages.

They have a decent record at the World Cup, winning nine of their 24 matches to date, while they automatically qualified for 2011 and 2015 after finishing third in their group.

Italian rugby has grown by leaps and bounds since they joined the Five Nations in 2000. They initially struggled in the renamed Six Nations but steadily improved and finished fourth in 2007 and 2013, while they also defeated France and Ireland in recent years. In this year’s Six Nations they finished fifth, with their only victory coming against Scotland.

Italy lost two World Cup warm-up matches against Scotland last month, going down 16-12 in Turin on 22 August, and then suffering a heavy 48-7 defeat in Edinburgh a week later.

They however gave a much better performance in their final warm-up match before losing 23-19 to Wales in Cardiff on 5 September.

The ‘Azzuri’ suffered a major blow when eighthman and captain Sergio Parisse was injured in their final warm-up match against Wales and he is now in a race against time to be fit for the World Cup.

Some of their star forwards include flanker Mauro Bergamasco, who will equal Brian Lima of Samoa’s record of appearing at five World Cups, South African-born lock Quintin Geldenhuys, hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini and flanker Alessandro Zanni.

Star backs include scrum half Edoardo Gori, centres Tommaso Benvenuti and Gonzalo Garcia and fullbacks Luke McLean and Andrea Masi.

They are currently ranked 14th in the world.

Canada reinforced their reputation as the second strongest team in the Americas region after Argentina

when they won the Americas qualifying competition for the World Cup, beating the United States 40-20 on aggregate in a two-legged play-off.

Canada has qualified for each World Cup since 1987 and has chalked up seven victories since then, including a 25-20 win against Tinga four years ago.

Their preparations for this year’s World Cup have not been very impressive as they lost seven out of eight warm-up matches.

They finished sixth in the Pacific Nations Cup after losing to Japan (20-6), Tonga (28-18), Samoa (21-20) and the USA (15-13), while in recent matches they once again lost

to the United States (41-23 on 22 August), and 47-18 to Fiji on 5 September. Their only victory over the past two months was a 19-12 win against Scottish club side Glasgow Warriors on 29 August.

Eighthman Tyler Ardron who plays for Welsh club Ospreys will captain a relatively young side with 18 of the players appearing at the World Cup for the first time.

Lock forward Jamie Cudmore is their most experienced player and will be playing at his fourth World Cup, while hooker Aaron Carpenter and wing DTH van der Merwe will be playing at their third World Cup.

Other star players include fullback James Pritchard, wings Phil Mackenzie and Matt Evans and centre Nick Blevins.

Canada are ranked 18th in the world.

Romania has played at every World Cup since 1987, winning five of their 20 matches to date.

They qualified directly for this year’s World Cup as Europe 2 after finishing second behind Georgia in the European Nations Cup Division 1A tournament.

In June they won the annual Nations Cup in Romania for the first time since 2013 after winning all three their matches - 35-9 against Spain, 43-3 against Namibia and 23-0 against the Argentina Jaguars.

They haven’t been very active or impressive in World Cup warm-up matches since then.

On 14 August they drew 10-10 against English second division club Yorkshire Carnegie and a week

later they lost 31-16 to Scottish club Edinburgh Rugby.Their final warmup match was against Tonga on 5

September that they lost 21-16.The Romanian team includes several naturalised

players from all over the world for the first time in their history. Prominent amongst them are New Zealand-born flyhalf Michael Wiringi, Tonga centre Paula Kinikilau, South African lock Johannes van Heerden and Georgian prop Otar Turashvili.

Eighthman Ovidiu Tonita is the most experienced player in the squad with 70 caps while he will be appearing at his fourth World Cup.

Romania are ranked 17th in the world.

Canada Italy

Romania

IRISH CHARGE … David Kilcoyne on the attack against Wales. Photo: Nampa-Reuters

FRENCH FLAIR … France fullback Scott Spedding in action against Argentina. Photo: Nampa-AP

LOOKING FOR SUPPORT … Tomasso Allan of Italy in action against Scotland. Photo: Nampa-AP

PACY … Canada wing DTH van der Merwe on the attack against Japan. Photo: Press Association Images

RUGGED … Ionel Cazan of Romania (left) tries to stop Max Evans of Scotland. Photo: Press Association Images.


We are proud to rally behind our National Rugby Team and wish them luck during their 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign. You can count on the support of all 700 Nedbank staff. Let’s make our first Rugby World Cup win happen. Go Welwitchias, we know you can do it!

nedbank.com.na Nedbank Namibia Limited Reg No 73/04561. Authorised financial services and registered credit provider.

Here’s to

MAKING

HAPPEN

Our first Rugby World Cup victory


Rugby World Cup FixturesDate Match Pool Venue Scores Time

September 201518 England v Fiji A Twickenham, London : 21:00

19 Tonga v Georgia C Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester : 13:00

19 Ireland v Canada D Millennium Stadium, Cardiff : 15:30

19 South Africa v Japan B Brighton Community Centre : 17:45

19 France v Italy D Twickenham, London : 21:00

20 Samoa v USA B Brighton Community Centre : 13:00

20 Wales v Uruguay A Millennium Stadium, Cardiff : 15:30

20 New Zealand v Argentina C Wembley Stadium, London : 17:45

23 Scotland v Japan B Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester : 15:30

23 Australia v Fiji A Millennium Stadium, Cardiff : 17:45

23 France v Romania D Olympic Stadium, London : 21:00

24 New Zealand v Namibia C Olympic Stadium, London : 21:00

25 Argentina v Georgia C Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester : 17:45

26 Italy v Canada D Elland Road, Leeds : 15:30

26 South Africa v Samoa B Villa Park, Birmingham : 17:45

26 England v Wales A Twickenham, London : 21:00

27 Australia v Uruguay Aw Villa Park, Birmingham : 13:00

27 Scotland v USA B Elland Road, Leeds : 15:30

27 Ireland v Romania D Wembley Stadium, London : 17:45

29 Tonga v Namibia C Sandy Park, Exeter : 17:45

October 20151 Wales v Fiji A Millennium Stadium, Cardiff : 17:45

1 France v Canada D Stadium MK, Milton Keynes : 21:00

2 New Zealand v Georgia C Millennium Stadium, Cardiff : 21:00

3 Samoa v Japan B Stadium MK, Milton Keynes : 15:30

3 South Africa v Scotland B St James' Park, Newcastle : 17:45

3 England v Australia A Twickenham, London : 21:00

4 Argentina v Tonga C Leicester City Stadium, Leicester : 15:30

4 Ireland v Italy D Olympic Stadium, London : 17:45

6 Canada v Romania D Leicester City Stadium, Leicester : 17:45

6 Fiji v Uruguay A Stadium MK, Milton Keynes : 21:00

7 South Africa v USA B Olympic Stadium, London : 17:45

7 Namibia v Georgia C Sandy Park, Exeter : 21:00

9 New Zealand v Tonga C St James' Park, Newcastle : 21:00

10 Samoa v Scotland B St James' Park, Newcastle : 15:30

10 Australia v Wales A Twickenham, London : 17:45

10 England v Uruguay A Manchester City Stadium : 21:00

11 Argentina v Namibia C Leicester City Stadium, Leicester : 13:00

11 Italy v Romania D Sandy Park, Exeter : 15:30

11 France v Ireland D Millennium Stadium, Cardiff : 17:45

11 USA v Japan B Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester : 21:00

17 B1 v A2 Twickenham, London : 17:00

17 C1 v D2 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff : 21:00

18 D1 v C2 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff : 14:00

18 A1 v B2 Twickenham, London : 17:00

24 Winner QF1 v Winner QF2 Twickenham, London : 17:00

25 Winner QF3 v Winner QF4 Twickenham, London : 18:00

30 Loser SF1 v Loser SF2 Olympic Stadium, London : 22:00

31 Winner SF1 v Winner SF2 Twickenham, London : 18:00

a date with destiny - the namibian...17 september 2015 2 rugby world cup 2015 message by ceo of nru...

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