Namibia face Uruguay in their last clash at RWC 2023

Namibia will play their final match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup against Uruguay in Lyon on Wednesday evening.

Despite three successive defeats in the tournament, coach Allister Coetzee is upbeat ahead of their final clash in Pool A.  Coetzee say his players won’t be playing with the weight of expectation on their shoulders.   

Namibia has had a torrid time in this World Cup. South Africa’s north-western neighbours, considered a tier two nation, has suffered emphatic defeats to Italy, three-time World Cup winners New Zealand and most recently a crushing 96-nil loss to hosts France. 

 Namibia’s coach Allister Coetzee, who coached the Springboks from 2016 to 2018 say the results is unsurprising, given his team lack of international rugby.  

He made a call on World Rugby to remedy the plight of the minnows. 

Coetzee says “The big thing for me of Namibian Rugby is the lack of competition. You cannot rely on club rugby only. We definitely need more international games against European teams. If you look at the last couple of years how Georgia have picked up, how the teams in South America have picked up, teams like Portugal and Spain. It’s because they play regularly against each other. Whereas as we probably play tier-two nations in the World Cup and maybe the next World Cup after four years you get an opportunity to play against tier two nations again. I’m sure that is something that world rugby will address.”

 Coetzee made seven changes to his starting 15, four in the forward pack and three in the backline.  Prop Johan Coetzee and wing Gerswin Mouton are the only players to have started all four matches. With the All Blacks, Italy and France out of the way, Coetzee believes it will be less pressure and more flair. 

Coetzee adds, “It’s anyone’s game if we pitch up and play to the best of our ability, we can put them under pressure. We have looked at where we can put them under pressure and our tactics will be sport on no doubt about it, we also got a good ref in Mathieu Raynal, he is an experienced ref, there is no pressure on the boys there’s no pressure on us. I like us to come out and play what we have trained.”

The Namibians played the South Americans in a pre-tournament warm-up match, losing 26-18. According to stand-in captain, Tjiuee Uanivi, having lost three successive games, the squad is hungry for a win in their final outing. Uanivi replaces Johan Deysel, who got a red card for a dangerous tackle in their match against France.   

Uanivi says, “It’s a great honour to captain my country. To prepare the team for a game like this, it’s a little bit easier after the two tough games. We feel like we’ve got a debt to pay to our country and to put on a performance.”

Sadly, for the Africans, history favours Uruguay ahead of this clash, they have won four of the five previous matches between the two sides.