Namibia fine-tunes for Barthes against Zimbabwe
Namibia’s Under-20 national rugby team will host neighbours and perennial rivals Zimbabwe on 19 May for a Test match in preparation for the Barthes Cup in Kenya from 24 June to 2 July.
Namibia Rugby Union acting president Theo Grunewald told The Southern Times Sports they are keen to roll out international rugby matches again after a one-and-a-half year hiatus imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Grunewald said the Zimbabwe match would be played behind closed doors – and both teams will stay in a bio-secure bubble during the pregame camp and up to match day, in line with international virus control regulations.
“The guys will be in camp sometime in the next few weeks but they have been preparing for this match since January to stay in shape because sport, like everything else, was affected by the pandemic. We expect a good game against the Zimbabweans,” he said.
Grunewald said members of the Namibia squad who will go into camp, will be announced “soon”. The Zimbabwe Rugby Union has already started camping in preparation for the southern African derby.
Grunewald said Namibia is using the Zimbabwe match as preparation for the Barthes Cup, which will feature some of Africa’s top-ranked teams. Namibian will play Senegal, Kenya, Madagascar and Tunisia, who all count among the continent’s best U20 sides.
“The guys will participate in the Barthes Cup against the other topranked teams and we expect them to give a good account of themselves in the tournament. This is a tough tournament, but the guys are cut out for it and have competed well in the past, so I expect them to carry on with the competence in Kenya,” Grunewald said.
He added: “Discussions are underway to have this tournament played in a bio-secure bubble, as the norm everywhere else for the safety of both payers and officials participating in the tournament.”