Veteran former Cheetahs and Bayonne hooker Torsten van Jaarsveld is set for his third World Cup in Namibian colours after coach Allister Coetzee called up the veteran hooker for another shot at a first-ever win in the tournament.
The African side will be targeting their final Pool A match, against Uruguay on 27 September in Lyon as a potential first win in their seventh tournament.
Ten facts about Namibia’s veteran Torsten van Jaarsveld
1. Torsten George van Jaarsveld was born on 30 June 1987 in Windhoek.
2. He plays mostly as a hooker, but he also has a handful of outings in the back row.
3. Van Jaarsveld is one of 14 players in Namibia’s 2023 World Cup squad with previous tournament experience. He played four matches in 2015 and twice in Japan four years later.
4. He made his international debut for the Welwitschias against Germany on 29 October 2014.
5. His first taste of representative rugby came two years earlier. He played for South African Barbarians (North) against England on their 2012 South Africa tour. England won 57-31.
6. The 36-year-old’s senior rugby debut came in October 2008 when he joined Pumas in the Currie Cup first division.
7. After five seasons with Pumas, van Jaarsveld joined Free State Cheetahs for the 2013 season. He made the Cheetahs’ Super Rugby squad in 2014, scoring against the Sharks in his first start in the competition.
8. Van Jaarsveld joined French side Bayonne at the start of the 2018/19 season, initially on a two-year contract. He left the club after 100 appearances in the Top 14, ProD2, and Challenge Cup competitions at the end of last season.
9. He scored 26 tries in 100 outings for Bayonne.
10. He also scored a hat-trick in 63 minutes against an Argentina XV in a non-cap World Cup warm-up at the end of July.
– World Rugby.com