Namibia - The Welwitschias

Team Preview

Coach:
Hakkies Husselman

Previous World Cups:
1999, 2003

Best Performance:
Pool Stage 1999, 2003

Played:
7 - 0 wins, 7 losses

World Ranking:
No.25

Fixtures:
v Ireland, Bordeaux, September 9
v France, Toulouse, September 16
v Argentina, Marseille, September 22
v Georgia, Lens, September 26

Facts:
1. Namibia was on the wrong end of the most tries scored in a World Cup match, conceding 22 against Australia in 2003.
2. 2007 marks the third successive tournament Namibia has qualified for.
3. Namibia beat Morocco over two legs in February to book its place in France.
4. At 25th, the Africans are the lowest-ranked of all the qualifying nations.
5. It has finished bottom of its group in both its previous World Cups.

Key Players:

Namibia's preparations for its third-consecutive Rugby World Cup have not been all that rosy, with several internal wranglings threatening to spoil the party.

The Africans - drawn in Group D for the rugby spectacle alongside host France, Ireland, Argentina and Georgia - have been without a coach since mid-April when Johan Venter was suspended.

Shortly after that the sport dropped into further crisis, when Venter declared himself unavailable for any further involvement in Namibian rugby as the situation deteriorated even further.

He has since been dismissed and replaced by assistant Hakkies Husselman - one of the best players ever produced by the country - while the former coach continues to do battle with the Namibian Rugby Union.

The new man, Husselman, a dynamic halfback who successfully played professional rugby in South Africa for many years and was part of the last World Cup campaign, faces a tough task in gelling together a squad made up of mainly part-timers ahead of France 2007.

At 25th in the International Rugby Board world rankings - the lowest of all the 20 qualifiers - Husselman faces a truly challenging task.

Namibia has also never won a World Cup game and the current internal problems will bring back memories of the build-up to the 1999 event.

Rather than celebrating Namibia's qualification for the tournament in Wales eight years ago, there were accusations of racism, court orders and restrictions on selection amongst the internal ranks of the sport.

However, it remained strong enough to beat off African opposition to qualify for the 2003 competition in Australia under the guidance of Kiwi coach Dave Waterson.

In a group that contained the host, Ireland, Argentina and Romania, Namibia was crushed, conceding 310 points in four games, including a massive 142-0 defeat to the Wallabies.

Still though, the Africans lifted themselves to join the world elite in the 2007 event, sealing their passage by comfortably overcoming Morocco over two legs in the final round of the African qualifying section last November.

Unlike in previous years, this time around they have continued to play competitive rugby in the run-up to the World Cup and in May took a trip to Romania for the IRB Nations Cup to play against the home team, Argentina A and France 2007 opponent Georgia.

Despite losing all the games, the tour provided valuable experience.

Captain and prop forward Kees Lensing will be key to any kind of success at the sport's showpiece event, where the team has been drawn in another tough group.

The 29-year-old plies his trade with the Sharks in South Africa and - along with hooker Skipper Badenhorst (Sharks), No.8 Jacques Burger (Griquas), flanker Jacques Nieuwenhuysen (Valke), prop Jane du Toit (Boland) and hooker Hugo Horn (Border Bulldogs) - will be expected to lead from the front.

The backline will be of some concern with only utility Du Preez Grobler and winger Deon Mouton - both part of the 2003 campaign - holding any significant experience, while the team will also be hoping that newcomer Piet van Zyl (Boland) will deliver.

The rest of the team is made up of mainly semi-professional players, for whom rugby is just a passion.

And in a tournament where the draw is hardly in their favour - they first play Ireland, then France, Argentina and Georgia - odds of a first World Cup win are stacked against them.

But victory over the latter will surely be a realistic target.

For a country which has produced the likes of Springboks stars Jan Ellis and Percy Montgomery down the years, it is easy to see how they turned over Ireland and Italy during the early 1990s when it was first introduced on the international stage.

Since then, most of its players have opted to head south in search of greener pastures.

One of the few remaiing is the captain, who believes the financial muscle across the border is hard to compete with.

He said: "Namibia doesn't have a professional set-up like South African rugby has or all the bigger playing countries."

"So it's difficult to get real full-time professionals. It's a big financial thing for us to get players over here and to join us on a full-time basis. Anyhow, we're going to try our best."

If 'best' means beating Georgia and putting up a strong resistence against the other three - who will feel maximum points are guaranteed against the Namibians - then 2007 will be hailed as their best-ever World Cup.