Namibia: Welwitschias On Track, Says Defiant Diergaardt

Sheefeni Nikodemus

28 April 2011

Namibia’s under-performing senior national rugby side is on the right track, insists head coach Johan Diergaardt.

Diergaardt said yesterday that despite their woeful form of late, the team is on course for a good showing at this year’s IRB World Cup.

The coach said the team would use the upcoming defence of their IRB Nations Cup in Romania and subsequent tests to build up a head of steam before the global September spectacle kicks off.

Namibia have been the whipping boys of rugby for the past three world cups, and the current state of events suggest more of the same in New Zealand.

“We are on track for the World Cup,” Diergaardt told The Namibian Sport.

“If everything goes according to plan then we will be fine,” he added.

Diergaardt also said his World Cup squad is likely to predominantly consist of foreign-based internationals with a mix of the standout players from the disastrous Vodacom Cup campaign completing the camp.

With regard to the team’s dismal showing in the annual third-tier southern African rugby development tournament, Diergaardt said it was a case of bad luck and the unavailability of a consistent line-up for their eight matches.

The Welwitschias lost seven games and drew one to finish the season bottom of the North Section log standings and collected a paltry seven points for their trouble.

Last year the team managed one win from eight as they finished second last with the same number of points.

The defiant coach also said that the media’s stance that the Welwitschias are on the decline is farfetched.

“We were unlucky,” he said.

“This year we had to use 36 players compared to 27 last year. We have had more injuries this time and then there was the case of not being able to have certain players because of job commitments.”

He did concede that his side has been under-performing.

“I’m not satisfied with how we played the Vodacom Cup,” he said “We didn’t perform to our best. For some of the players it was not a true reflection of their potential.”

As part of its World Cup preparations, the team is set to play Romania on June 10 in the Nations Cup, followed by tests against Portugal and then Georgia on June 15 and 19 respectively.

They then host a South African university side on a yet to be determined date in July before possibly playing fellow Word Cup side Argentina in Windhoek the following month.

AllAfrica – All the Time