22nd July, 2017 – After Namibia’s rude awakening against Zimbabwe last weekend they can expect another tough encounter when they take on Uganda in Kampala in the Africa Gold Cup on Saturday.
Last Saturday, Namibia showed great resolve to overcome a 23-7 deficit early in the second half before beating an inspired Zimbabwe 31-26. With the victory, Namibia maintained their unbeaten record in the competition as well as their top position on the log, but it was close and showed that no team can be underestimated.
Namibia now lead the log on 15 points, followed by Kenya on 12 and Uganda on 11 points, and with two rounds to go, the competition is still wide open, with all three teams within reach of the title. Zimbabwe are fourth on five points, followed by Senegal (1) and Tunisia (0).
Uganda’s Cranes will be high on confidence after thrashing Tunisia 78-17 on their home ground in Kampala last Saturday.
That victory maintained their unbeaten status in the Gold Cup after they beat Senegal 17-16 away on 1 July, while they drew their opening match 33-33 away to Kenya on 24 June.
On Saturday they dominated from the start and built up a 43-0 lead at halftime before running in 12 tries for an emphatic victory.
Their dangerous fullback Phillip Wokorach, who was named man of the match, led the way with three tries while he also added 16 points with the boot for a personal tally of 31 points.
Wokorach is now the second top scorer in the competition with 56 points, behind Kenya’s fullback Darwin Mukidza who has scored 63 points.
Namibian flanker and regular captain Rohan Kitshoff is surprisingly third on the list and also the top try scorer with seven tries for a total of 35 points.
In the corresponding match last year, Namibia had to pull out all the stops before winning the match 40-31.
Namibia led 21-12 at half time and won the try count by six tries to five, and although they never relinquished the lead, they were pushed all the way before completing a hard-fought victory.
The two nations have met three times before with Namibia winning two and Uganda one match.
Their first encounter came in Windhoek in 2003 when Namibia thrashed Uganda 82-13, but four years later Uganda turned the tables with a shock 20-19 victory in Kampala.
Uganda has also been improving on the international stage and following last weekend’s victory against Tunisia they moved two places up on the world rankings to 36th in the world and fifth in Africa. Namibia, meanwhile, remain 21st in the world and second in Africa.
They have a dangerous backline with exciting players like wing James Odong, centres Michael Wokorach and Pius Ogena and fly half Ivan Magomu, and a mobile pack which is captained by prop Brian Odong.
Their backline is particularly dangerous from broken play and Namibia’s defence will have to be at its best to keep them in check.
Namibia’s forwards were disappointing against Zimbabwe last week, as they conceded several penalties due to scrum infringements, while Zimbabwe dominated the battle for the loose ball.
Namibia will have to improve in these areas if they hope to contain Uganda’s exciting Cranes.
The Namibian selectors yesterday announced a 24-man squad to take on Uganda, which is as follows:
Forwards:
Casper Viviers, AJ de Klerk, Nelius Theron, Orbert Nortje, Shaun du Preez, Desiderius Sethie, Collen Smith, Janco Venter, Max Katjijeko, Ruan Ludick, Mahepisa Tjeriko, Rohan Kitshoff, Thomasau Forbes, Wian Conradie,
Backs: Damian Stevens, Eugene Jantjies, Helarius Kisting, Cliven Loubser, JC Greyling, Justin Newman, Gino Wilson, Johann Tromp, David Philander, Chrysander Botha
