19 game losing run won't deter Rugby World Cup's undisputed underdogs
Phil Davies and his Namibian players can clinch a sixth successive qualification for the Rugby World Cup by defeating Kenya in Windhoek on Saturday and earn the chance to end a 19 game losing run, stretching back to their Cup debut in 1999.
Namibia, who lead the six team Africa Gold Cup/World Cup qualifier table with 20 points, are unbeaten and need only a draw to take the title and join defending champions New Zealand, South Africa, Italy and the repechage winner in Pool B in Japan next year. Kenya are second on 17 points which means they have to grab four points on Saturday to avoid November’s Rugby World Cup repechage in Marseille against Canada, Hong Kong and Germany.
Davies, who won 46 caps for Wales, was director of rugby at Leeds, Cardiff Blues and the Scarlets before becoming Namibia’s coaching advisor at the 2015 World Cup and took up the head coach role following the departure of Danie Vermeulen after the finals in England that saw Namibia lose 17-16 to Georgia in Exeter.
With one of those repechage teams and the inconsistent Italians in Pool B, that first World Cup finals win for Namibia is a real possibility and Davies wants a big finish to the qualification campaign on Saturday. Davies told RugbyPass from Windhoek: “This match is a marvellous opportunity for the boys who are three points ahead in the table but we still have to play a very good Kenyan team. I am very pleased we are in Windhoek and have given ourselves a marvellous opportunity to go to the World Cup in Japan with a real chance to win a game.
“That is the challenge we are facing and people talk about the repechage team and Italy being in that Pool, but let’s remember the Italians are a professional outfit with Conor (O’Shea) coaching them and they will be formidable. First, we have to play well in front of what we hope is going to be a big crowd in Windhoek and get the result – then we can start looking at how we can improve the players.
“This tournament has been exciting and we have played some great stuff, particularly winning in Zimbabwe but we also looked awful at times in that game. It comes down to consistency.
“It has been an interesting three and half years and when we took this on, one of the things we talked to World Rugby about was creating a legacy.
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“It is has been an interesting journey and we have created a national academy and a high performance centre along the way. The Currie Cup has been massive for us and while the results have not been brilliant, the progression has been upwards over the last three years. If we can get what we deserve against Kenya we can then start getting the boys in the right physical shape to get that first win. Hopefully, I will wake up on Sunday morning with a big headache!”
Ospreys new singing Lesley Klim is in the Namibian squad, but regular captain Renaldo Bothma has not recovered in time from a third broken arm in 12 months and has stayed with Harlequins to continue his rehabilitation work. Davies has been delighted with the qualification campaign so far and is hoping to add players like Bothma to his squad for planned matches in November.
He said: “We believe that home-based Namibian players provide the heartbeat of the national team have introduced 25 new players at senior level, over the past two years, including many of our outstanding Under-20 players. In the 2015 World Cup the average age of our squad was 31 and the current group has an average age of 24.
“We are looking for players with a real point of difference and we have Renaldo Bothma at Quins, Torsten van Jaarsveld at Bayonne, Divan Rossouw at the Bulls and Anton Bresler at Worcester. We have another group of eight or nine U20’s at the Bulls and Sharks Academies.”
Kenya, who defeated Tunisia 67-0 in their last match, have Dalmus Chituyi, Felix Ayange and Curtis Lilako back in their squad and Ian Snook, their Kiwi head coach, is hoping to pull off a shock result. He said: “Our hopes and aspirations is that we play really well and piece together 80 minutes of what has only been seen for 40 or so minutes in the other games. The Tunisian game provided a bit of everything which the players will learn from.
“I’m expecting that the players are ready for an 80 minute effort and are really looking forward to it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments