The Namibian under 19 team on Saturday beat Kenya by 52 points to 17 in Windhoek to win the Confederation of African Rugby’s under 19 tournament. With the victory in Windhoek, the young Namibians qualified for the International Rugby Board’s Junior World Trophy tournament in Portugal next year capping a golden six weeks for Namibian rugby after the senior team, the Welwitchias, qualified for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The success in the Rugby World Cup qualifier in Madagascar in July and the under 19’s triumph in Windhoek this weekend cemented Namibia’s place as the top rugby playing nation on the African continent after powerhouses South Africa.
The CAR tournament featured four teams, the hosts Namibia, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tunisia who were promoted to the 1A division after defeating Madagascar last year. Namibia reached the final after a 78-3 thumping of Tunisia on the opening day while Kenya booked their place with a 27-20 win over Zimbabwe. The final was a one sided affair. Namibia, led by the superb talent of flyhalf Christopher Arries, raced to a 21 points to five lead in as many minutes, Arries dotted down twice , left wing Milaan van Wyk added a brace for Namibia to go into the break with a comfortable 35-ten lead, twenty points coming from Arries who converted all 5 tries scored by his side in the first 40 minutes.
The loss of Arries through a knee injury just before half-time disrupted Namibia’s momentum but they still managed to run in three more tries to reach the half century mark. Kenya recorded a late consolation try which did nothing to hide the comprehensive manner in which the East African side was outplayed. Coach Roger Thompson was full of praise for his young team.
“ It is good to get the result in the final against Kenya on home soil , I am not too chuffed about our second half performance especially after losing our captain which is a concern for us “ said Thompson who was also part of the coaching staff of the senior team that won the qualification tournament in Madagascar in July.
In the build-up to the final the senior team played a huge part in inspiring their young compatriots to success. The under 19’s were allowed to use the senior team’s dressing room for the first team in history while a number of senior players interacted with the players on a personal basis ahead of the final. According to captain Christopher Arries the senior team was a major source of inspiration.
“ The senior side was very inspirational for us, if God is with us who is against us ? Thats what we were backing ourselves with. We all want to one day play for the senior team and that will hopefully happen in the near future “ said Arries.
The 2015 Junior World trophy in Portugal will be Namibia’s 5 th appearance at the showcase event. Earlier this year they finished in sixth place in the tournament hosted in Hong Kong after narrow defeats to Japan and Uruguay with the highlight a win over Canada. Thompson says the goal next year will be to improve on their performance in Hong Kong.
“ We ended 6 th this year and we are definitely aiming for a third or fourth place next year, so we will be working hard. We have a younger squad this time around, so we need to get the conditioning right, we must get the guys in the gym because we have to be stronger going to Portugal “
Namibia received praised from all quarters for hosting a superb tournament. The teams stayed at the hostels of Windhoek High School and were treated to typical Namibian hospitality that included a “ Braai “ or barbecue for all the players . The IRB Regional Manager for Development in Africa, Jean-Luc Barthez, said Namibia showed that it was capable of hosting a top class event. According to Namibian Rugby President Bradley Basson it was important for the country and crucial to develop players to represent Namibia at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
“ We are fully behind these boys and we believe that this is the type of player we have to prepare for 2019 in Japan. If we keep this group together and we give them backing I am sure we will have a very strong and world class player to showcase in 2019” said the NRU president.
In addition to the under 19’s tournament win, Namibia’s Sevens rugby also received a major kick start during the week. The under 19 Sevens team this weekend won the gold medal while the newly appointed national sevens coaching staff led by Head Coach Vince Dreyer spent a productive week with the Springbok 7’s coaching staff at their base in Stellenbosch.
With just over a year and three weeks to go before Namibia’s opening match against new Zealand at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, the senior team under the watchful eye of Head Coach Danie Vermeulen started with a number of conditioning sessions with locally based players. The Namibian Rugby Union will shortly announce details of an extensive campaign to prepare the national team for the World Cup.
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