Rugby-World Cup-Namibia

Sept 11 (Reuters) - Factbox on the Namibia squad for the
Rugby World Cup in Japan, where they will compete in Pool B:

NAMIBIA
World ranking: 23
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 Oct. 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.

COACH
Phil Davies (Wales)
Davies played 46 times for Wales at lock and has been
steering Namibia since he first took over as technical director
for their November internationals in 2014.
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 17-16 loss
to Georgia.

KEY PLAYER
Johan Deysel
Centre and captain 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, scoring his team's only try as they lost 58-14, and
will take that experience into the tournament in Japan, where
Namibia will clash with the All Blacks again.
A strong ball carrier in midfield and good on defence,
Deysel's most important contribution will be his leadership and
organisation skills.

Captain: Johan Deysel
Squad:
Forwards - Andre Rademeyer, Nelius Theron, Desiderius
Sethie, AJ 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, JC Greyling, Johann Tromp, Chad Plato, Lesley Klim,
Janry du Toit, PJ Walters.

WORLD CUP RECORD
W - 0, L - 19, D - 0
Tournaments: 5
Last World Cup: Pool stage (2015)
Best finish: Pool stage (1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015)

WORLD CUP POOL B FIXTURES
Sept 22 Italy v Namibia Osaka
Sept 28 South Africa v Namibia Toyota
Oct 6 New Zealand v Namibia Tokyo
Oct 13 Namibia v Canada Kamaishi

RESULTS IN 2019
June 9 Uruguay 28-30 Namibia
June 15 Namibia 0-20 Russia

(Compiled by Shrivathsa Sridhar and Nick Said; editing by
Sudipto Ganguly)