Team Guide: Namibia

Colours: Blue shirt, blue shorts.

Nickname: Welwitschias.

World ranking: 20.

Coach: Johan Diergaardt.

Appointed head coach in 2008, having previously been chairman of the Namibian national selectors’ committee, Diergaardt has arguably been their biggest success so far. Not only has he guided the Welwitschias to their third successive World Cup, but he led them to the IRB Nations Cup last year.

BACKS Born Caps Tries Cons Pens DGs Pts

Jacky Bock 12/8/83 7 1 4 1 0 16

Chrysander Botha 13/7/88 14 6 14 13 0 97

Danie Dames 7/2/86 0 0 0 0 0 0

Darryl de la Harpe 10/2/86 7 1 0 0 0 5

Ryan de la Harpe 2/9/82 3 0 0 0 0 0

Eugene Jantjies 8/10/86 27 2 2 7 0 35

Theuns Kotze 16/7/87 1 0 2 5 0 19

Tertius Losper 22/11/85 9 0 6 4 0 24

Conrad Marais 26/4/89 2 1 0 0 0 5

David Philander 4/1/87 9 0 0 0 0 0

Danie van Wyk 30/3/86 3 0 0 0 0 0

McGrath van Wyk 18/9/87 9 2 0 0 0 10

Piet van Zyl 14/5/79 14 3 0 0 0 15

Llewellyn Winckler 7/9/87 9 2 0 0 0 10

FORWARDS

Jacques Burger 29/7/83 25 4 0 0 0 20

Tinus du Plessis 3/4/84 26 5 0 0 0 25

Jane du Toit 2/10/75 19 1 0 0 0 5

Nico Esterhuyse 5/3/84 26 1 0 0 0 5

Henk Franken unknown 0 0 0 0 0 0

Hugo Horn 9/5/77 31 3 0 0 0 15

Wacca Kazombiaze 25/1/79 5 0 0 0 0 0

Rohan Kitshoff 13/9/85 5 1 0 0 0 5

Heinz Koll 3/2/82 9 1 0 0 0 5

Raol Larson unknown 0 0 0 0 0 0

Jacques Nieuwenhuis 23/3/80 20 5 0 0 0 25

Bertus O’Callaghan 18/2/88 7 0 0 0 0 0

Johnny Redelinghuys 2/2/84 26 1 0 0 0 5

PJ van Lill 4/12/83 15 1 0 0 0 5

Renaud van Neel 23/5/88 0 0 0 0 0 0

Marius Visser 24/4/82 15 1 0 0 0 5

Key player: Jacques Burger.

The Weltwitschias will be hoping that their skipper and flanker can reproduce the barnstorming performances he showed for Saracens in their English Championship triumph, as they will need all the inspiration they can find to avoid a whitewash.

27/11/10 v Spain (Palma de Mallorca) L 20-33

10/6/11 v Romania (Bucharest) L 11-13

19/6/11 v Georgia (Bucharest) L 18-23

Group stage: 1999, 2003, 2007.

Did not qualify: 1995.

Did not enter: 1991.

Did not exist: 1987.

Record: P11, W0, D0, L11.

Most appearances: Heino Senekal 10.

Most points: Lean van Dyk 22.

Most tries: 11 players with one.

Their first qualification for the World Cup in 1999. Their 1990 formation came too late for the 1991 qualifiers and then they failed to make it four years later. However, victories over the Ivory Coast, Morocco and Zimbabwe booked their place at rugby union’s top table for the first time.

Their 142-0 slaughter by Australia at Adelaide in 2003, when they conceded a whopping 22 tries – a record for a World Cup match.

Heroes: The 2007 team v Ireland.

They gave the Irish an almighty fright in their pool D encounter at Bordeaux. Trailing 20-3 at half-time, the Namibians fought back bravely, scoring two tries to pull to within 10 points, before eventually losing 32-17, their best result so far at the World Cup.

Villain: Jacques Nieuwenhuis.

For catching France number eight Sebastien Chabal round the neck in Namibia’s pool match in Toulouse in 2007. His 19th minute red card opened the French floodgates and helped them score 82 points on the way to an 87-10 rout.

Thanks to their Nations Cup schedule in June, Namibia will at least have had some meaningful Test competition before the World Cup, but they still look woefully undercooked compared to their group rivals and so again risk some embarrassingly heavy defeats.

10/9/11 v Fiji (Rotorua)

14/9/11 v Samoa (Rotorua)

22/9/11 v South Africa (Auckland)

26/9/11 v Wales (New Plymouth)