Welwitschias need a win
The SuperSport Rugby Challenge is halfway done but the Windhoek Draught Welwitschias have not yet registered a win.
In their first encounter the Falcons beat the Welwitschias 50-33 (halftime 17-20) in South Africa.
The Namibian side has so far conceded 276 points and scored 80 for average scores of 69-20 per game since the competition commenced.
Their coach Lyn Jones has previously stated that the team is unfit due to the fact that most of their players are not competing professionally and have day to day jobs which keep them away from obtaining fitness like their South Africa counterparts.
Lions coach Bafana Nhleko and his Valke counterpart Rudy Joubert have different views on the matter, but both feel for the Welwitschias, for whom history appears to be repeating itself (they were last in the Currie Cup Qualifier tournament last year with exactly one point scored).
“For me the question is what the purpose of playing in the Rugby Challenge is for them, is it to prepare for the African Cup or is it to compete in the Rugby Challenge?” asked Nhleko.
“If it is to prepare for the African Cup then they'll be in good shape for that.
“But if it is to compete in the Rugby Challenge then taking over 50 points every week can be damaging to the psyche. I believe that part of the learning curve is the belief that things will get better, if they don't it's difficult to learn going forward.”
Joubert, whose team will play the Welwitschias again this weekend in Namibia, agreed: “It's a valid and interesting question, and people will have different views in terms of the word of the experience going forward.”
Nhleko said Welshman Jones's team were actually well coached, but they had one problem.
“They're well organised and well coached if you watch what they do. But the difficult thing for them is the striking the balance between amateur and professional.
“They've got a good scrum but they can't last the 80 minutes. They are organised in a lot of departments, it's just that they haven't had the opportunity to show it because the confidence is not there because they can't stay in the fight due to their lack of conditioning.”
Welwitschias assistant coach JP Nel had confirmed earlier in the competition that the team's training sessions harked back to the amateur days, where they only trained three times a week from six to eight in the evening.
Joubert said even scarier was the fact that going into the second round of the North Pool section of the tournament, things could only get worse:
“I suspected their best game would be against us because it was the first game and they were motivated.
“The main issue for them now will be picking up injuries because then the standards will drop. Most of the teams in the competition will pick up a notch, whereas I'm not sure they can – it's a difficult situation for them.”
Nhleko added that in some way playing the Welwitschias could be detrimental to the other teams as it gave them a false indication of their strength.”
“Teams shouldn't be in the position of thinking it's an easy five points to play them; we suffered against the Valke for that kind of thinking after playing the Welwitschias and winning 112-14.”
The Welwitschias will meet Hino Valke on Saturday at the Hage Geingob Stadium in their second encounter in the SuperSport Rugby challenge. The match starts at 15: 00.
LIMBA MUPETAMI
The Namibian side has so far conceded 276 points and scored 80 for average scores of 69-20 per game since the competition commenced.
Their coach Lyn Jones has previously stated that the team is unfit due to the fact that most of their players are not competing professionally and have day to day jobs which keep them away from obtaining fitness like their South Africa counterparts.
Lions coach Bafana Nhleko and his Valke counterpart Rudy Joubert have different views on the matter, but both feel for the Welwitschias, for whom history appears to be repeating itself (they were last in the Currie Cup Qualifier tournament last year with exactly one point scored).
“For me the question is what the purpose of playing in the Rugby Challenge is for them, is it to prepare for the African Cup or is it to compete in the Rugby Challenge?” asked Nhleko.
“If it is to prepare for the African Cup then they'll be in good shape for that.
“But if it is to compete in the Rugby Challenge then taking over 50 points every week can be damaging to the psyche. I believe that part of the learning curve is the belief that things will get better, if they don't it's difficult to learn going forward.”
Joubert, whose team will play the Welwitschias again this weekend in Namibia, agreed: “It's a valid and interesting question, and people will have different views in terms of the word of the experience going forward.”
Nhleko said Welshman Jones's team were actually well coached, but they had one problem.
“They're well organised and well coached if you watch what they do. But the difficult thing for them is the striking the balance between amateur and professional.
“They've got a good scrum but they can't last the 80 minutes. They are organised in a lot of departments, it's just that they haven't had the opportunity to show it because the confidence is not there because they can't stay in the fight due to their lack of conditioning.”
Welwitschias assistant coach JP Nel had confirmed earlier in the competition that the team's training sessions harked back to the amateur days, where they only trained three times a week from six to eight in the evening.
Joubert said even scarier was the fact that going into the second round of the North Pool section of the tournament, things could only get worse:
“I suspected their best game would be against us because it was the first game and they were motivated.
“The main issue for them now will be picking up injuries because then the standards will drop. Most of the teams in the competition will pick up a notch, whereas I'm not sure they can – it's a difficult situation for them.”
Nhleko added that in some way playing the Welwitschias could be detrimental to the other teams as it gave them a false indication of their strength.”
“Teams shouldn't be in the position of thinking it's an easy five points to play them; we suffered against the Valke for that kind of thinking after playing the Welwitschias and winning 112-14.”
The Welwitschias will meet Hino Valke on Saturday at the Hage Geingob Stadium in their second encounter in the SuperSport Rugby challenge. The match starts at 15: 00.
LIMBA MUPETAMI
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