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Welwitschias confront Valke tomorrow
Welwitschias confront Valke tomorrow

Welwitschias confront Valke tomorrow

The national rugby team hopes to capitalise on the hard lessons they learned last year.
Limba Mupetami
The Windhoek Draught Welwitschias will meet the Hino Valke at the Hage Geingob Stadium tomorrow in the first match of this year's SuperSport Rugby Challenge.

The home side's efforts in the inaugural tournament were uneventful last year, with the team failing to make an impact in the tournament.

Now they plan on using the challenge as a step up from their club rugby and to qualify for next year's Rugby World Cup.

Coach Lyn Jones said there were many lessons learnt from last year and much to look forward to this year.

“Our players learnt the importance of becoming fitter and stronger. Dedication to your sport and the detail required to challenge in tight situations to influence the score line are but a few of the key factors experienced from last season's SuperSport Rugby Challenge.

“No one wants to concede versus anyone. It won't happen this season. You must realise the players and teams we play against play rugby for a living, so they should always be better than us. But like last season, it's not always the case,” he said.

The Welshman also spoke about how the rugby challenge has allowed different players to enter the selection pool.

“Last season brought so many new players into the selection pool for Phil Davies, the national team coach. Local players grew and understood how to play and how to train. Players returning from South Africa to train with Namibia noticed how improved local players have become. We need to keep growing the player base and improve our behaviour culture.”

He further said all players were motivated to have a chance of playing in the African Gold Cup.

“They want to be tested versus the best on the continent.

“The players here have been lucky that Davies was in Namibia for six weeks and he helped with coaching, along with Roger Thompson and JP Nel.

“Sergio de la Harpe has provided as good strength coaching as you will get anywhere in the world. Lots of our shortcomings have been addressed but they will not be cured in such a short space of time,” he added.

Jones said he did not like to make predictions, “but this tournament is very challenging. We will be a little better this time around and will keep improving as long as the plan is adhered to. It would be great to gain the respect of the larger unions like the Lions, Pumas and the Bulls.”

The Windhoek Draught Welwitschias will play in their new kit, sponsored by Mizuno. The match kicks off at 16:00.

Entrance fees are N$50 for adults and N$10 for children. Tickets are also available online at www.webtickets.com.na, Pick n Pay supermarkets or at the entrance. Food and drinks will be for sale.

–Additional reporting SuperSport

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-29

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 233.12/OZ UP +1.93% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.12% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.65/BBP UP +1.46% | Platinum US$ 908.62/OZ UP +1.53% Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 19° | 36° Rundu: 19° | 29° Eenhana: 19° | 29° Oshakati: 21° | 30° Ruacana: 20° | 33° Tsumeb: 19° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 29° Omaruru: 19° | 32° Windhoek: 17° | 29° Gobabis: 17° | 30° Henties Bay: 16° | 20° Wind speed: 22km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 11:22, High tide: 05:24, Low Tide: 23:26, High tide: 17:46 Swakopmund: 16° | 17° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:20, High tide: 05:22, Low Tide: 23:24, High tide: 17:44 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 27km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:20, High tide: 05:21, Low Tide: 23:24, High tide: 17:43 Rehoboth: 19° | 30° Mariental: 23° | 34° Keetmanshoop: 24° | 35° Aranos: 22° | 33° Lüderitz: 15° | 28° Ariamsvlei: 24° | 35° Oranjemund: 14° | 25° Luanda: 27° | 28° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 26° Mbabane: 16° | 21° Maseru: 11° | 29° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 27° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 29° Cape Town: 17° | 28° Durban: 20° | 24° Johannesburg: 16° | 24° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 20° | 30° Harare: 16° | 29° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.77 | EUR to NAD 20.35 | CNY to NAD 2.61 | USD to NAD 18.88 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.77 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.15 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.35 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 18.88 | USD to ZMW 25.01 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 74536 Up +0.85% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1528.69 Up +0.84% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12986.94 Up +0.04% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 27559.35 Down -2.36% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 233.12/OZ UP +1.93% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.12% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.65/BBP UP +1.46% | Platinum US$ 908.62/OZ UP +1.53%