Welwitschias face huge Blue Bulls challenge 

The Namibian Welwitschias face a huge challenge when they take on the Vodacom Blue Bulls in a rugby friendly at Hage Geingob National Rugby Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

The new-look Welwitschias gave a great display when they beat Zambia 71-12 a fortnight ago, but the Bulls will be another prospect altogether and will provide a clearer indication of Namibia’s recent progress.

The last time the teams met two years ago, the Bulls thrashed the Welwitschias 92-8 and although they are not expected to bring a full strength team, they have a lot of depth and should once again be a daunting prospect.

Welwitschias assistant coach Darryl de la Harpe, however, says they are ready for the challenge.

“I’m not sure what team they will bring, I think it will be a mixture between their Currie Cup team and their under-23 team, but they always come with a strong team to Namibia, so we are expecting a tough encounter.”

“But we are looking forward to the challenge and we will be more than ready. We have prepared well and the Zambia match gave us some good insights and lessons,” he says.

The Welwitschias squad is largely similar to the one that faced Zambia and consists mostly of local-based players, with only a few foreign-based professionals among them.

“We only have a few professionals in the squad like Prince !Gaoseb, Max Katjijeko and Adriaan Booysen, as well as props Joshua Bester and Gianluca Savoldelli, who both play for Villagers in Cape Town. But our local-based youngsters did very well against Zambia so the future looks good,” De la Harpe says.

“Jaylon Carew obviously impressed against Zambia, scoring three tries; SW Kuhn showed real heart and determination at centre; and Manfred Garoeb and Tollie Tjipute also took their chances. Among the forwards JP Campbell, Edward Trotsky and Kistings Minyoi all put up their hands with good performances,” he adds.

De la Harpe says he was pleasantly surprised by their performance against Zambia.

“I don’t really know how to look at it because they narrowly lost to Zimbabwe 43-31 and 17-7, so I was happily surprised to score more than 70 points against them, but I knew that if we just stick to the basics and don’t get carried away we would do well. The players that started provided a good platform, which opened up opportunities for other guys coming from the bench, so we could just roll out and have fun, but I think fatigue also stepped in for Zambia, because they travelled a long way,” he says.

De la Harpe calls on Namibian rugby fans to come out in numbers to watch the match.

“We would love everyone to come out to enjoy the game. There won’t be any club games this weekend so people must come out in numbers on Saturday. The weather is looking good, so come out and get behind the boys, just like they did for the Zambia game, but we need to double those numbers,” he says.

The NRU, meanwhile, announced the programme for tomorrow, which includes several curtain raiser matches.

The gates open at 07h30, while a ‘Tjokker Rugby’ exhibition will open proceedings at 08h00.

At 09h30, a NRU Women’s First Division match between Wanderers and United will take place, followed by a Momentum Schools under-19 match between Pro-Ed Academy and Roots at 10h45.

A NRU First Division match between Nust and Oceans Rugby follows at 12h15, while the main match between the Welwitschias Invitational XV and the Vodacom Blue Bulls kicks off at 15h00.

Tickets cost N$150 for the grand stand, N$80 for the open stand, and N$50 for children, while pensioners and children under six can enter for free.

Tickets are available at the gate or at eticket.my.na

The Namibia Ruby Union, meanwhile, announced the Namibian squad which is attached. 

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