The Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) has announced training a 40-man senior team training squad for the two upcoming friendly matches against Zimbabwe following trials that took place in Windhoek on 15 May.
As per a media release on Monday, the players selected are all expected to train at Hage Geingob Stadium on Monday, 24 May, and Wednesday, 26 May before being released to play for their respective clubs on 29 May.
A team of 26 players will then be selected on 31 May to play the games against Zimbabwe in Harare (12 June 2021) and Windhoek (19 June 2021).
This is in preparation for the Pool A Tournament of the Rugby Africa Cup which will be hosted from 01-11 July in Windhoek.
Namibia will battle it out with Madagascar and Ivory Coast for a place in the Rugby Africa Cup 2022 Top 8, which will serve as the final Rugby World Cup 2023 Qualification event.
The media release added that interim head coach and chairman of the selection team Robbie Dickson was assisted by Chrysander Botha (assistant coach), Under-20 head coach Jood Opperman and Darryl de la Harpe, a former national team player.
The players who attended the trials were nominated by their clubs, with 70 of them participating in the trials, including those who could not attend due to work commitments and injuries.
Also included were players who are part of the High-Performance Centre Programme and World Cup players.
Below is the list of players selected for the training camp:
Simon Kanime, Ignus Tripodi, Ethan Thiart, Desiderius Sethie, Jason Benade, Gerhard Opperman, Gerhard Thirion, Chemigan Beukes, JC Rossouw, Johan Luttig, Pieter Kok, Lebeau du Preez, Thomas Kali, Ruan Ludik, Joshua Jacobs, Max Katjiteo, Ryan Garoeb, Prince Gaoseb, Dean Blom, Cameron Langenhoven, Pieter Diergaardt, DJ Holtzhausen, Jacques Theron, Riaan van Zyl, Denzo Bruwer, Hanreco van Zyl, Godwin Sylvanus, PJ Walters, Ethan Beukes, Justin Newman, Alcino Isaacs, Louis Grobbelaar, Oderich Mouton, Morgan Esterhuisen, Gino Wilson, Lloyd Jacobs, Nazume Swartz, Chad Plato, Lorenzo Louis and Ricardo Swart.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
