Namibia’s Barthés Cup squad announced
Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) has announced a 25-member squad that will represent the country at the coming U/20 Barthés Cup in Kenya from 9 to 17 April.
NRU chief executive officer John Heynes confirmed that the team will leave for Kenya on 6 April and return on 18 April.
Chrysander Botha will be the head coach of the team, while William Steenkamp is the team manager and Wilfred Bezuidenhout is the team doctor.
Eight players have also been named as non-travelling squad members. Last year, only three teams participated in the tournament in Kenya due to the Covid-19 outbreak and subsequent regulations.
For this year, eight teams have confirmed their participation, led by Namibia, Madagascar, Senegal, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Zambia and hosts Kenya.
The U/20 Barthés Cup is an annual rugby union competition that features national U/20 teams from Africa, organised by Rugby Africa.
The winners of the competition qualify for next year’s World Rugby Junior Championship, whose hosts and dates are yet to be announced. The World Rugby Junior Championship will be making a return following a threeyear absence.
The 25 players are:
Forwards: John Otto, Lucky Mauha, Iyambo Tshuuya, Bernd Beddies, Upahee Muhuura, Friedrich Grobbelaar, Franco Pearson, Conwille Draghoender, Henri Rossow, Gregory Namaseb, Riaan Grove, Rowan Jansen (captain), Alexander Jansen and Ray-Eez Feris. Backs: Oela Blaauw (vice-captain), Brian Bayer, Adriaan Steenkamp, Geraldo Beukes, Darren Beukes, Niel Holtzhausen, Rashano van Rooi, Patrick Karsten, Owen Hawanga, Quirine Madjiedt and Janes van Zyl.
Non-Travelling Reserves:
Dominic Diedericks, Lister Cochrane, Joe Losper, Enrique Husselman, Ethan Koopman, Nathan Isaacs, Keenan Januarie and Hendrick Schalkwyk.