Players ready to play in front of their home team: Coetzee

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The coach of the senior national rugby team, Allister Coetzee, says it will be a privilege for the Welwitschias to compete in front of their fans against the Windhoek Draught Griquas on Saturday.

The senior rugby team will take on South African outfit the Windhoek Draught Griquas in their first-ever Dr Hage Geingob Cup, which will be held at the cathedral of Namibian rugby, the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek.

Addressing the media here on Wednesday, Coetzee said the team will use this weekend’s game as part of its world cup preparation.

“With 11 months to go before the Rugby World Cup that will be held in France next year, playing in this match will be a great opportunity to start our campaign. It will be nice to play in front of our home supporters and sponsors,” he said, adding that the game of rugby is currently facing financial difficulties worldwide and credit should be given to sponsors for availing this opportunity to them.

The coach said the team started training on Monday and the players are looking forward to the match.

“Currently we have three squads training. We have a lot of injuries in the team but that will create chances for other players who do not make the trip to France to showcase what they have in front of the home supporters,” Coetzee said.

He stated that the Namibian team’s journey to the 2023 Rugby World Cup started when they were in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

“Come Saturday we would like to start with a win, but that doesn’t happen all the time. We are hopeful of having a positive start at home before we fly out to Europe where we have two more matches planned for our world cup preparation,” he said.

The coach said they are currently comfortable with a group of 45 players who are in camp, but their captain Johan Deysel is not available for this weekend’s game and will only join the team in Spain.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency