Namibia wary of staring down barrel of a gun

Namibia will appear in a sixth successive Rugby World Cup with no realistic chance of making the knockout stages but still with the opportunity to make some history.

The Southern African side have lost each of their previous 19 World Cup matches, but showed an improvement under Welsh coach Phil Davies in England four years ago when they ran Georgia close in a 17-16 loss.

They will look at their final Pool B fixture against Canada in Kamaishi on October 13 as a big opportunity to break their duck, but before then will simply be seeking to avoid heavy defeats to New Zealand and South Africa, and perhaps spring a surprise against Italy.

Namibia actually have a positive head-to-head record against the Italians, though those successes came 28 years ago in Windhoek, and the fortunes of the two nations have changed since then.

Many of the Namibia players were either born, raised or schooled in South Africa, and they rely heavily on their neighbour to assist in the development of the game in the country.

Davies has selected 15 players with previous World Cup experience in his squad, including scrumhalf Eugene Jantjies, who will be appearing at his fourth tournament.

The 55-year-old has led Namibia to four successive Africa Gold Cup title wins, and their showing at the 2015 World Cup was their best yet, with a first bonus point in the narrow 1716 loss to Georgia.

Centre and captain Johan Deysel has played in South Africa’s domestic Currie Cup and Super Rugby for the Sharks, but currently plies his trade in the French second-tier with Colomiers. He was part of the side that met New Zealand in the 2015 World Cup.

Many of the Namibia players were either born, raised or schooled in South Africa

Squad: Forwards – Andre Rademeyer, Nelius Theron, Desiderius Sethie, A J de Klerk, Johannes Coetzee, Obert Nortje, Louis van der Westhuizen, Torsten van Jaarsveld, Tjiuee Uanivi, Johan Retief, Thomasau Forbes, Rohan Kitshoff, Max Katjijeko, Prince Gaoseb, Wian Conradie, PJ van Lill, Adriaan Booysen, Janco Venter

Backs – Cliven Loubser, Helarius Kisting, Damian Stevens, Eugene Jantjies, Darryl de la Harpe, Johan Deysel, Justin Newman, J C Greyling, Johann Tromp, Chad Plato, Lesley Klim, Janry du Toit, PJ Walters Factbox on the Namibia squad for the Rugby World Cup in Japan, where they will compete in Pool B: World ranking: 23 –