Welwitschias aim to finish on a high

The final opportunity to drag a South African union into deep waters and possibly end off their Mzansi Challenge campaign on a winning note, is one the Windhoek Draught Welwitschias intend grabbing with both hands this Saturday.

While the home team have shown promising periods of play and delivered competitive performances in most areas, they have failed to gain winning league points against any of the host nation’s teams.

Their opponents, Eastern Province, have double the amount of wins and double the league points, but have at times also shown vulnerabilities which the Namibians are hoping to exploit.

While the Namibians have only achieved wins against two of the competition’s other foreign-based invited participants (the Zimbabwe Goshawks in Harare and the Kenya Simbas in Windhoek), the Eastern Cape team are credited with five wins out of eight matches.

The EP’s home win on 13 May against the Boland Kavaliers (25-18) indicates the tough task facing the Namibians, who went down 38-17 to the Kavaliers in Windhoek last weekend.

Eastern Province’s other wins in this competition were against the Simbas (18-7), neighbours Border Bulldogs (43-27) and Leopards (24-20) – although they were outclassed by the Valke (29-56) and SWD Eagles (23-36).

For reasons not revealed publicly, Eastern Province withdrew and forfeited the league points for their scheduled clash against the San Clemente Rhinos last weekend. Conversely, the red-and-black team received the points from the Zimbabweans’ withdrawal due to financial reasons during round 1.

VALUE

In a media interview earlier this week, Welwitschias head coach Chrysander Botha emphasised the importance and value of participation in South African provincial competition – especially in the build-up to the World Cup in France later this year.

“We played good opposition and we have done well. There has been a lot of learning and development. Opportunities are endless for the local boys, who have sacrificed a lot,” Botha said.

Botha said the tournament has taught the local squad to trust their systems, as well as to create and take opportunities during the build-up of their attacking play.

He said the Namibians have gained confidence from matching their opponents physically and have benefitted from playing a lot of rugby week after week.

“The importance of this tournament cannot be underestimated because it helps us prepare for the World Cup and also allow us to plan early for the Mzansi Challenge next year, especially the physical and logistical aspect of the tournament,” he said.

Botha said the tournament provides Namibian players their first taste of international rugby, which is a good foundation for them to challenge for positions in the team that will go to France.

“It is a great tournament, which helps us, as a rugby-playing nation, to develop and expose our players. They learn a lot by competing at these levels. We, as coaches, also learn a lot from our colleagues, and this is a positive for Namibia,” Botha said.