The Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) will this weekend host trials in the capital to select players to compete in the 2022 Rugby Africa Cup (RAC).

Rugby’s acting CEO Theo Grunewald told New Era Sport the union has extended the invitation to all local rugby clubs to nominate players to participate in the trials. “We are also looking at inviting some of our players playing overseas to compete in the national trials,” he said.

Namibia’s first match will be against Ivory Coast on 3 July and the second game will see the Welwitschias taking on Madagascar on 11 July. 

The RAC consists of four pools of three teams each playing a round-robin tournament at a single venue per pool. The best two teams from each pool qualify for RAC 2022, which serves as the final round of Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifier for Africa. “The games will be funded by the continents rugby ruling body, with
us, as union, also contributing, but most of the logistics will be taken care of by the Rugby Africa,” he said.

Meanwhile, Namibia’s Under-20 national rugby team will host Zimbabwe on 19 May for a test match in preparation for the Barthes Cup in Kenya from 24 June to 2 July. 

- mkambukwe@nepc.com.na