Hosts France up next for Deysel’s men
Still looking to win a match
The Welwitschias have been given little recovery time ahead of their third group match at the 2023 Rugby World Cup against the hosts on Thursday.
The Welwitschias of Namibia find themselves yet again up against another seemingly unbeatable opponent when they face Rugby World Cup hosts France on Thursday in their third Pool A clash.
Namibia lost 71-3 to New Zealand in their second clash on Friday evening and 52-8 in their first pool match against Italy a week ago.
The All Blacks of New Zealand, at the back of a 13-27 defeat to France, were determined to record a resounding victory over the lowly-ranked African side.
Ian Foster’s men scored 11 tries to nil. Scrumhalf Cam Roigard scored two tries while flyhalf Damian McKenzie bagged 26 points, including two tries, to kick-start the All Blacks’ onslaught.
The sole response from Namibia was an 11th-minute Tiaan Swanepoel penalty.
The Welwitschias’ night got worse when midfielder Le Roux Malan, barely 18 minutes into his World Cup debut match, suffered a broken ankle which has ruled him out for the rest of the tournament.
When asked what Namibia need to do to get closer to a nation like New Zealand, head coach Allister Coetzee told Rugby365 that the first thing is to appreciate the support from World Rugby.
“We will be having a review of the World Cup in December. It is important that you cannot just get all the support a year before the World Cup, it has to be much earlier in the process.
“It takes players to build the capacity in terms of conditioning, it takes a while, it takes time, and it’s not a quick fix. It’s not easy.”
Coetzee insisted that playing such big teams is invaluable for a country like Namibia.
Invaluable
“Of course. It’s a privilege to face the haka. For a player that’s a challenge that was thrown at them,” Coetzee explained.
“Irrespective of the score-line, I’m proud of the way they stuck in the fight.
“The national side doesn’t have the privilege of playing in the Rugby Championship and other top competitions, but they qualified to get to a World Cup, so hopefully in the future, we get more of these games, whereby you learn about the tempo of the game, the pace and the collisions. That is the difference with performance nations like us.
“Look, our World Cup is about to start, we are building for that last game. We’ve got our objectives still in sight and for me, if we don’t get any more injuries, we will be fine for the last game,” said Coetzee.
Namibia have never won a World Cup game and all their focus will now be on their final match against Uruguay after they face the hosts France.
Coetzee said: “We feel more disappointed for Le Roux because he left the field so early. The All Blacks at the World Cup is a game that every boy dreams of playing in.
Captain Johan Deysel said: “New Zealand played incredibly well, especially in the first half. We couldn’t stop them. I’m proud of the boys. We chased that try, but we couldn’t get it.”
Another player, flank Prince !Gaoseb, said they fought very hard, but couldn’t keep to the tempo.
“They were very fast. But I’m proud of the boys. Now we look forward to the future,” he added.
Namibia lost 71-3 to New Zealand in their second clash on Friday evening and 52-8 in their first pool match against Italy a week ago.
The All Blacks of New Zealand, at the back of a 13-27 defeat to France, were determined to record a resounding victory over the lowly-ranked African side.
Ian Foster’s men scored 11 tries to nil. Scrumhalf Cam Roigard scored two tries while flyhalf Damian McKenzie bagged 26 points, including two tries, to kick-start the All Blacks’ onslaught.
The sole response from Namibia was an 11th-minute Tiaan Swanepoel penalty.
The Welwitschias’ night got worse when midfielder Le Roux Malan, barely 18 minutes into his World Cup debut match, suffered a broken ankle which has ruled him out for the rest of the tournament.
When asked what Namibia need to do to get closer to a nation like New Zealand, head coach Allister Coetzee told Rugby365 that the first thing is to appreciate the support from World Rugby.
“We will be having a review of the World Cup in December. It is important that you cannot just get all the support a year before the World Cup, it has to be much earlier in the process.
“It takes players to build the capacity in terms of conditioning, it takes a while, it takes time, and it’s not a quick fix. It’s not easy.”
Coetzee insisted that playing such big teams is invaluable for a country like Namibia.
Invaluable
“Of course. It’s a privilege to face the haka. For a player that’s a challenge that was thrown at them,” Coetzee explained.
“Irrespective of the score-line, I’m proud of the way they stuck in the fight.
“The national side doesn’t have the privilege of playing in the Rugby Championship and other top competitions, but they qualified to get to a World Cup, so hopefully in the future, we get more of these games, whereby you learn about the tempo of the game, the pace and the collisions. That is the difference with performance nations like us.
“Look, our World Cup is about to start, we are building for that last game. We’ve got our objectives still in sight and for me, if we don’t get any more injuries, we will be fine for the last game,” said Coetzee.
Namibia have never won a World Cup game and all their focus will now be on their final match against Uruguay after they face the hosts France.
Coetzee said: “We feel more disappointed for Le Roux because he left the field so early. The All Blacks at the World Cup is a game that every boy dreams of playing in.
Captain Johan Deysel said: “New Zealand played incredibly well, especially in the first half. We couldn’t stop them. I’m proud of the boys. We chased that try, but we couldn’t get it.”
Another player, flank Prince !Gaoseb, said they fought very hard, but couldn’t keep to the tempo.
“They were very fast. But I’m proud of the boys. Now we look forward to the future,” he added.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article