Namibia national rugby union team

Namibia

Union	Namibia Rugby Union
Nickname(s)	Welwitschias
Emblem(s)	African fish eagle
Ground(s)	Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium
Coach(es)	Phil Davies
Captain(s)	Jacques Burger
Most caps	Johnny Redelinghuys (50)
Top scorer	Theuns Kotzé (344)
Most tries	Gerhard Mans (27)
Team kit Change kit
First international
South West Africa 0 – 9 British Lions (5 July 1955)
Largest win
Namibia 112 – 0 Madagascar  (June 15, 2002)
Largest defeat
Australia 142 – 0 Namibia  (October 25, 2003)
World Cup
Appearances	5 (First in 1999)
Best result	Namibia 16 - 17 Georgia, 2015

The Namibia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Welwitschias or Biltongboere, are a tier-two nation in the World Rugby tier system, and have participated in five Rugby World Cup competitions since their first appearance in 1999. They are governed by the Namibia Rugby Union.

Namibia has been playing international rugby since the early 1900s. As well as having competed at the World Cup, Namibia annually competes in the Africa Cup. Until independence, players for Namibia were also eligible to represent South Africa, with Namibian-born Springboks including Jan Ellis and, more recently, Percy Montgomery. As of 24 September 2015 they are ranked 20th in the world.^[1]

History

1990s

Rugby union has been played in Namibia since 1916 when it was introduced by soldiers from South Africa who had invaded the German-run colony.

Before Namibia gained its independence in 1990, the team, as South West Africa, played in South Africa's domestic club competition, the Currie Cup. The team achieved their best result in the 1988 season, where they finished third.

The Namibia Rugby Union was formed in March 1990, and it joined the International Rugby Board in the same month. Independence came too late for Namibia to qualify for the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Hardened by regular, tough competition in the Currie Cup, the first few years of Namibian rugby union were relatively successful, their highest point being 2–0 home series victories over Ireland and Italy in 1991. That year the Welwitschias won all 10 of their Tests, the others being five victories against Zimbabwe and one against Portugal in Lisbon. One of Namibia's players, Andre Stoop was signed by English champion rugby league club, Wigan.

During the international seasons Namibia played six games; the first of which was a 55–23 win over Zimbabwe. Following another victory over Zimbabwe, in 1993 Namibia played Wales in Windhoek, losing 23–38. Namibia completed big victories over the Arabian Gulf rugby team, Kenya and Zimbabwe in the initial rounds of 1995 Rugby World Cup qualifying.

Russia toured Namibia in 1994, defeating the home team 31–12 in Windhoek. Although Namibia defeated Zimbabwe that year, the team lost to Côte d'Ivoire and drew with Morocco (all in Casablanca). In 1996 Namibia played two matches; losing 13–15 to Zimbabwe, and then defeating them by one point in a subsequent meeting. They played two games in 1997 as well, losing to Tonga and Zimbabwe.

During 1998 Namibia took part in the African tournaments for 1999 Rugby World Cup qualification. They started out in Round 3, where they finished second in the pool behind Zimbabwe on points difference (defeating Zimbabwe but losing to Tunisia). Namibia defeated Côte d'Ivoire, Morocco and Zimbabwe to qualify for the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

The team's participation was put in doubt when the Namibian government's Sports Commission barred the team from participating in a South African competition it had been using as preparation, and threatened to stop the team from taking part in the World Cup. This followed criticisms from non-white rugby clubs that the Namibian Rugby Union displayed racist attitudes.^[2] Ultimately, however, the team were allowed to take part.

The 1999 World Cup marked their debut at the tournament and since then they have been Africa's second representative alongside South Africa. While they suffered heavy defeats by France, Fiji and Canada, they took pride in scoring an early try and being level with France after 20 minutes.

2000–present

However with a small player base, and lacking frequent or strong competition, the team has deteriorated in recent years. Their record in the World Cups has been poor as they have not yet managed a win. Their record defeat, 142–0 against Australia in the 2003 tournament, led to some questioning the presence of the minor teams at the tournament.

Namibia initially struggled in the qualifiers for the 2007 tournament, suffering a shock defeat to Kenya, their first ever to the African Great Lakes nation, and another to Tunisia. Following the Kenya loss, the Namibian squad slumped to 28th in the IRB rankings. However, after defeating Tunisia at home, the team was effectively through to two deciding matches against Morocco, to determine which of the two African nations would make it to France in 2007. Namibia convincingly won both legs, qualifying for the World Cup.

As the lowest ranked team at the start of the 2007 World Cup, Namibia was given no chance in its opening game of against Ireland. However, the Namibian squad frustrated Ireland, then the 5th ranked team in the world, and scored two tries for its narrowest World Cup loss of 17–32. They were convincingly beaten in their games with Argentina (63–3) and France (87–10). And, in the game in which they were seen as having the best chance to win, they suffered a disappointing 30–0 loss to Georgia, to end the tournament winless.

The African side was able to win the IRB Nations Cup in 2010.

Namibia achieved their fourth World Cup qualification in a row after defeating Côte d'Ivoire in 2011. They were drawn into Pool D, with South Africa, Wales, Fiji and Samoa. Their first match in the Rugby World Cup, held in New Zealand (at the Rotorua International Stadium) resulted in a defeat by Fiji by 45–29. Their second match in this tournament was a 49–12 loss to Samoa but the third was an 87–0 loss to South Africa. In their final pool game, Wales proved to be too strong, as Namibia conceded 12 tries in an 81–7 defeat. Theuns Kotzé provided his side's one consolation, as his conversion of a Heinz Koll try made him Namibia's all-time highest Rugby World Cup points scorer.

The Welwitschias played the 2015 Vodacom Cup, collecting six defeats and one win against the Limpopo Blue Bulls. Namibia qualified for their fourth Rugby World Cup in 2015. They were placed in Pool C with New Zealand, Georgia, Tonga and Argentina.

World Cup Record

World Cup record									World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A		P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Not invited								-
1991	Did not enter								Did not enter
1995	Did not qualify								6	4	1	1	218	104
1999	Pool Stage	3	0	0	3	42	186		5	4	0	1	127	78
2003	Pool Stage	4	0	0	4	28	310		4	3	0	1	197	73
2007	Pool Stage	4	0	0	4	30	212		6	4	0	2	192	96
2011	Pool Stage	4	0	0	4	44	266		4	3	1	0	115	58
2015	Qualified								7	5	0	2	289	159
Total	5/8	15	0	0	15	144	974		32	23	2	7	1138	568

Record

World Rugby Rankings
Top 30 rankings as of 1 May 2016[3]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		New Zealand	96.10
2		Australia	89.33
3		South Africa	87.66
4		England	83.98
5		Wales	83.10
6		Argentina	82.59
7		Ireland	80.33
8		France	78.36
9		Scotland	78.32
10		Japan	77.05
11		Fiji	76.96
12		Georgia	72.62
13		Tonga	71.60
14		Italy	70.78
15		Samoa	70.36
16		Romania	67.52
17		United States	65.68
18		Canada	64.27
19		Russia	63.56
20		Uruguay	63.23
21		Namibia	61.75
22		Spain	60.87
23		Belgium	57.94
24		Germany	57.71
25		Hong Kong	57.17
26		South Korea	56.70
27	1	Kenya	55.89
28	1	Chile	55.73
29		Ukraine	55.51
30		Portugal	54.29
*Change from the previous week
Namibia's Historical Rankings
Source: World Rugby - Graph updated to 1 November 2015[3]

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Namibia national XV at test level up until 11 October 2015.^[4]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Arabian Gulf	1	1	0	0	100.00%	64	20	+44
Argentina	3	0	3	0	0.00%	36	194	-158
Argentina XV	2	0	2	0	0.00%	23	77	-54
Australia	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	142	-142
Canada	2	0	2	0	0.00%	24	89	-65
Fiji	2	0	2	0	0.00%	43	116	-73
France	2	0	2	0	0.00%	23	134	-111
France XV	2	0	2	0	0.00%	36	49	-13
Georgia	5	1	4	0	20.00%	73	112	-39
Germany	2	2	0	0	100.00%	137	33	+104
Hong Kong	1	1	0	0	100.00%	22	12	+10
Ireland	4	2	2	0	50.00%	65	117	-52
Italy	3	2	1	0	66.67%	74	75	-1
Ivory Coast	4	2	1	1	50.00%	101	50	+51
Kenya	9	7	2	0	77.78%	428	155	+273
Madagascar	4	3	1	0	75.00%	310	84	+226
Morocco	7	4	2	1	57.14%	133	137	-4
New Zealand	1	0	1	0	0.00%	14	58	-44
Portugal	7	5	2	0	71.43%	229	125	+104
Romania	5	1	4	0	20.00%	58	138	-80
Russia	4	2	2	0	50.00%	109	85	+24
Samoa	2	0	2	0	0.00%	25	89	-64
Scotland A	1	1	0	0	0.00%	23	20	+3
Senegal	3	3	0	0	100.00%	68	40	+28
South Africa	2	0	2	0	0.00%	13	192	-179
Spain	4	1	3	0	25.00%	96	97	-1
Tonga	2	0	2	0	0.00%	35	55	-20
Tunisia	9	6	3	0	66.67%	197	152	+45
Uganda	2	1	1	0	50.00%	96	33	+63
Uruguay	1	0	1	0	0.00%	12	23	-11
Wales	4	0	4	0	0.00%	69	171	-102
West Germany	1	1	0	0	100.00%	54	7	+47
Zambia	2	2	0	0	100.00%	132	20	+112
Zimbabwe	28	26	2	0	92.86%	1023	557	+466
Total	131	74	55	2	56.49%	3831	3441	+390

Current squad

Namibia's 31-man squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.^[5]

• Head Coach: Phil Davies
• Caps Updated: 11 October 2015

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player Position Date of Birth (Age) Caps Club/province Torsten van Jaarsveld Hooker 30 June 1987 11 Cheetahs Louis van der Westhuizen Hooker 25 February 1995 6 Leopards Aranos Coetzee Prop 14 March 1988 8 Cheetahs AJ de Klerk Prop 19 December 1987 7 Wanderers Jaco Engels Prop 17 December 1980 15 Trustco United Raoul Larson Prop 14 May 1984 8 SWD Eagles Johnny Redelinghuys Prop 2 February 1984 50 Wanderers Casper Viviers Prop 1 June 1988 15 Trustco United Tjiuee Uanivi Lock 31 December 1990 14 Unattached Janco Venter Lock 19 September 1994 11 Maties Renaldo Bothma Flanker 18 September 1989 10 Toyota Verblitz Jacques Burger (c) Flanker 29 July 1983 38 Saracens Wian Conradie Flanker 14 October 1994 3 Uni. Johannesburg Tinus du Plessis Flanker 20 May 1984 48 Wanderers Rohan Kitshoff Flanker 13 September 1985 26 Durbanville-Bellville Leneve Damens Number 8 30 May 1993 5 Wanderers PJ van Lill Number 8 4 December 1983 43 Bayonne Eniell Buitendag Scrum-half 21 June 1989 15 Wanderers Eugene Jantjies Scrum-half 8 October 1986 48 Dinamo București Damian Stevens Scrum-half 2 June 1995 4 UWC Theuns Kotzé Fly-half 16 July 1987 29 Bourg-en-Bresse Darryl de la Harpe Centre 2 October 1986 29 Western Suburbs Johan Deysel Centre 26 September 1991 12 Leopards JC Greyling Centre 21 June 1991 10 Old Wesley Danie van Wyk Centre 30 March 1986 15 Trustco United Conrad Marais Wing 26 April 1989 10 Béziers David Philander Wing 4 January 1987 26 Spotswood United Heinrich Smit Wing 21 November 1990 13 NWU Pukke Russell van Wyk Wing 12 August 1990 7 Western Suburbs Chrysander Botha Fullback 13 July 1988 38 Exeter Chiefs Johann Tromp Fullback 23 December 1990 22 Wanderers

Individual all-time records

Most caps

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Start	Sub	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Won	Lost	Draw	%
1.	Johnny Redelinghuys	Prop	2006–	50	32	18	25	5	0	0	0	23	26	1	47.00
2.	Tinus du Plessis	Flanker	2006–	48	40	8	35	7	0	0	0	24	23	1	51.04
	Eugene Jantjies	Scrum-half	2006–	48	33	15	50	4	3	7	1	21	26	1	44.79
4.	PJ van Lill	Flanker	2006–	43	28	15	20	4	0	0	0	21	21	1	50.00
5.	Jacques Burger	Flanker	2004–	38	37	1	35	7	0	0	0	19	18	1	51.31
	Chrysander Botha	Fly-half	2008–	38	36	2	155	16	15	15	0	21	16	1	56.57
7.	Hugo Horn	Hooker	1997–2011	35	28	7	10	2	0	0	0	14	20	1	41.42
8.	Herman Lintvelt	Flanker	1998–2007	34	23	11	40	8	0	0	0	16	18	0	47.05
	Nico Esterhuyse	Lock	2006–11	34	32	2	0	0	0	0	0	14	19	1	42.64
10.	Darryl de la Harpe	Centre	2010-	29	23	6	15	3	0	0	0	14	15	0	48.27

Last updated: Namibia vs Argentina, 11 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most tries

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Start	Sub	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop
1.	Gerhard Mans	Wing	1990-1994	27	26	1	118	27	0	0	0
2.	Eden Meyer	Wing	1991-1996	21	20	1	98	21	0	0	0
3.	Chrysander Botha	Fullback	2008-	38	36	2	155	16	15	15	0
4.	Melrick Afrika	Wing	2003-2007	23	18	5	62	12	1	0	0
5.	Rohan Kitshoff	Wing	2010-	26	15	11	55	11	0	0	0
6.	du Preez Grobler	Centre	2001-2008	25	21	4	50	10	0	0	0
	Corné Powell	Centre	2001-2007	26	24	2	50	10	0	0	0
	Riaan van Wyk	Wing	2002-2004	10	10	0	50	10	0	0	0
	Johann Tromp	Centre	2012-	22	15	7	50	10	0	0	0
9.	Barries Barnard	Flanker	1990-1993	22	22	0	36	9	0	0	0

Last updated: Namibia vs Argentina, 11 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most points

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Start	Sub	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop
1.	Theuns Kotzé	Fly-half	2011-	29	28	1	344	4	78	51	5
2.	Jaco Coetzee	Fly-half	1990-1995	28	27	1	335	6	81	45	3
3.	Mot Schreuder	Fly-half	2002-2007	19	17	2	158	4	42	18	0
4.	Chrysander Botha	Fullback	2008-	38	36	2	155	16	15	15	0
5.	Gerhard Mans	Wing	1990-1994	27	26	1	118	27	0	0	0
6.	Rudie van Vuuren	Fly-half	1997-2003	14	9	5	109	3	26	14	0
7.	Eden Meyer	Wing	1991-1996	21	20	1	98	21	0	0	0
8.	Emile Wessels	Fly-half	2002-2010	18	16	2	94	0	14	21	1
9.	Lean van Dyk	Fullback	1998-2002	10	10	0	70	3	11	11	0
10.	Jaco Kotze	Wing	1995-2004	16	14	2	67	7	4	8	0

Last updated: Namibia vs Argentina, 11 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most points in a match

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1.	Justinus van der Westhuizen	Fly-half	33	3	9	0	0	Zambia	Windhoek	26/05/2007
2.	Jaco Coetzee	Fly-half	30	3	6	1	0	Kenya	Nairobi	07/07/1993
3.	Chrysander Botha	Fullback	29	2	5	3	0	Ivory Coast	Windhoek	27/06/2009
4.	Moolman Olivier	Fly-half	26	1	11	0	0	Portugal	Windhoek	21/04/1990
5.	Riaan van Wyk	Wing	25	5	0	0	0	Madagascar	Windhoek	15/06/2002
	Theuns Kotzé	Fly-half	25	1	4	4	0	Russia	Windhoek	18/07/2015
6.	Gerhard Mans	Wing	24	6	0	0	0	Portugal	Windhoek	21/04/1990
	Mot Schreuder	Fly-half	24	0	12	0	0	Kenya	Windhoek	27/05/2006
	Theuns Kotzé	Fly-half	24	0	12	0	0	Madagascar	Windhoek	06/07/2014
10.	Theuns Kotzé	Fly-half	22	0	2	6	0	Spain	Windhoek	17/11/2012

Last updated: Namibia vs Argentina, 11 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most tries in a match

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1.	Gerhard Mans	Wing	24	6	0	0	0	Portugal	Windhoek	21/04/1990
2.	Riaan van Wyk	Wing	25	5	0	0	0	Madagascar	Windhoek	15/06/2002
3.	Eden Meyer	Wing	20	4	0	0	0	Zimbabwe	Windhoek	16/05/1992
	Melrick Afrika	Wing	20	4	0	0	0	Kenya	Nairobi	16/08/2003
	Renaldo Bothma	Number 8	20	4	0	0	0	Madagascar	Nairobi	06/07/2014
6.	13 players on 3 tries

Last updated: Namibia vs Argentina, 11 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most matches as captain

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Draw	%	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop
1.	Gerhard Mans	Wing	1990-1994	26	20	5	1	78.84	118	27	0	0	0
2.	Jacques Burger	Flanker	2007	18	8	10	0	44.44	25	5	0	0	0
3.	Corné Powell	Centre	2002-2007	13	9	4	0	69.23	25	5	0	0	0
	Kees Lensing	Prop	2006-2009	13	6	6	1	50.00	0	0	0	0	0
5.	PJ van Lill	Flanker	2012-	11	7	4	0	63.63	10	2	0	0	0
6.	Quinn Hough	Flanker	1998-1999	10	6	4	0	60.00	25	5	0	0	0
7.	Jacques Nieuwenhuis	Flanker	2008-2011	6	3	3	0	50.00	10	2	0	0	0

Last updated: Namibia vs Argentina, 11 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Youngest players

#	Player	Pos	Age	Opposition	Venue	Date
1.	Chris Arries	(Wing)	18 years and 36 days	Kenya	Windhoek	16/11/2013
2.	Andre de Klerk	(Lock)	18 years and 176 days	Ivory Coast	Abidjan	14/06/2009
3.	Louis van der Westhuizen	(Hooker)	18 years and 256 days	Zimbabwe	Windhoek	08/11/2013
4.	Ryan Witbooi	(Wing)	18 years and 342 days	Zambia	Nchingola	14/08/2004
5.	Morne Louw	(Prop)	18 years and 345 days	Kenya	Nairobi	09/09/2006
6.	Duimpie Theron	Lock	19 years and 128 days	Ivory Coast	Casablanca	12/09/1998
7.	Eugene Jantjies	(Scrum-half)	19 years and 231 days	Kenya	Windhoek	27/05/2006
8.	Danie Vermeulen	(Prop)	19 years and 356 days	Zimbabwe	Windhoek	01/03/1996
9.	Hugo Horn	(Hooker)	20 years and 15 days	Tonga	Windhoek	24/05/1997
10.	Chrysander Botha	Fullback	20 years and 20 days	Zimbabwe	Windhoek	02/08/2008

Last updated: Namibia vs Argentina, 11 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Oldest players

#	Player	Pos	Age	Opposition	Venue	Date
1.	Manie Grobler	Prop	38 years and 187 days	Zimbabwe	Windhoek	16/05/1992
2.	Khaki Goosen	Flanker	36 years and 103 days	Wales	Windhoek	05/06/1993
3.	Jané du Toit	Prop	35 years and 359 days	Wales	New Plymouth	26/09/2011
4.	Doug Jeffery	(Wing)	35 years and 135 days	France	Windhoek	23/06/1990
5.	Riaan Jantjies	(Scrum-half)	35 years and 29 days	Zimbabwe	Windhoek	22/07/2000
6.	Leon Stoop	Scrum-half	35 years and 18 days	Ivory Coast	Casablanca	16/06/1994
7.	Deon Gouws	Wing	34 years and 315 days	Zimbabwe	Windhoek	14/07/2001
8.	Jaco Engels	Prop	34 years and 298 days	Argentina	Leicester	11/10/2015
9.	Willem Maritz	Flanker	34 years and 269 days	Zimbabwe	Windhoek	07/09/1991
10.	Cor van Tonder	Hooker	34 years and 241 days	Spain	Windhoek	17/11/2012

Last updated: Namibia vs Argentina, 11 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

See also

• Namibia Rugby Union
• Rugby union in Namibia

Notes

1. Rugby World Rankings
2. Chris Hewett (29 April 1999). "Rugby Union: England bucks the global growth trend". The Independent.
3. "World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
4. Namibia rugby statistics
5. Namibia announce RWC squad

External links

• Namibianrugby.com
• A place to meet and chat about namibian rugby.
• Namibian rugby union news from Planet Rugby
• Namibia World Cup 2007 Preview (in Portuguese)
• Namibia World Cup 2007 Preview & follow-up (in French)