Erasmus Shalihaxwe
The national rugby team, the Welwitchias, won 22–19 against Uganda in an international friendly match in Walvis Bay on Saturday.
The match is part of a series of friendly games organised by the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) in preparation for the 2025 Rugby Africa Cup, which will take place in Kampala, Uganda, from July 8 to 19, 2025.
The tournament will also serve as a qualification event for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, set to be held in Australia.
Next weekend, Namibia will face Airlink Pumas from South Africa in Windhoek before meeting Italy.
NRU director Jacques Burger commented on the match, saying that Uganda provided a good test for Namibia’s players to assess their match fitness and international experience.
“It was a good game of rugby against a very good opponent like Uganda, but this is the purpose of the game: To test our players and see where we stand in terms of fitness level and international match experience. We gave away too many penalties, and it is something we spoke about before the match on how the players can react when things go against them… but it is part of the learning process,” Burger said.
He also mentioned that the upcoming match against the Airlink Pumas will be tough and that the preparation games are designed to get the players ready for the challenges they will face in Uganda.
Rugby player Jacques Theron noted that the game was tough and indicated that he needed more training.
“We haven’t been training together for a long time… I think we only trained together for like a week, and I see we have a long way to go. But these types of games are what we need to get the required level,” Theron said.
Uganda’s captain, Baron Oketayo, said the match provided valuable lessons, despite some challenges.
“Namibian rugby has been a good test for us to test our international level and learn from it. Namibia has represented Africa on the world stage on various occasions, and whenever we face them, we always learn something new,” Oketayo said.
