WINDHOEK – Despite losing all their matches on the just-ended Northern Hemisphere preparatory tour, Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU), Sybrand de Beer, yesterday insisted that the tour was worthwhile and believes Namibia is still well on course for next year’s World Cup.
During the tour, Namibia lost its opening clash against Canada (17-13) before going down by 35-17 against the very a physical French Barbarians side. The last match of the tour was against Portugal, where the Namibians showed great character and determination but unfortunately suffered another defeat, this time 29-20. The Namibian team returned home on Tuesday.
De Beer, winner of this year’s Sports Administrator of the Year accolade, highlighted a few areas where the team needs to improve before heading to England for the 2015 global rugby showpiece. He specifically expressed serious concern with team’s forwards, saying they will consider various options in order to drastically improve the striking department.
“Our weakness in that area was exposed during the match against the French Barbarians as we could not pair with in terms of strength and other aspects of the game. But besides the few challenges, I have to say the tour was worthwhile and very beneficial to the whole team, especially the youngsters,” said de Beer.
“I believe there is still room for improvement because we still have the Vodacom Cup coming and few more test matches lined up for next year and we expect some improvements within that time frame. As for the Vodacom Cup, we want to focus more on the home-based players and other youngsters as it will be a great opportunity for them to gain some needed exposure while playing at the highest level”.
By Otniel Hembapu