High hopes in Windhoek
At the at Hein Geigob Stadium in Windhoek on Saturday Namibia play Tunisia in the second leg of the Africa Cup Final which has serious implications. The winner will go directly to New Zealand in 2011 for the final round of the World Cup.
The winner will go into Pool D with South Africa, Wales, Fiji and Samoa.
The first leg was in Tunis on 14 November and Namibia won that 18-13 to take a five point advantage into the second leg. This is a big match and a large crowd is expected.
Unfortunately they have lost two important players – scrumhalf Jurie van Tonder and left wing Heini Bock. Eugene Jantjies, experienced if only 23, has come in in the place of Van Tonder and David Philander in the place of Bock. Both Jantjies and Philander were on the bench in Tunis.
It is especially in the tight loose that the Biltongboere will want to grab the initiative and in rugged Jacques Nieuwenhuis and Jacques Burger they have the men to set their team on a winning path. The Tunisians rely a lot on their forward but in Tunis the Namibians outplayed them up front.
Teams
Namibia: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Bradley Langenhoven, 13 Piet van Zyl, 12 Tinus Venter, 11 David Philander, 10 Emile Wessels, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 8 Tinus du Plessis, 7 Jacques Nieuwenhuis, 6 Jacques Burger, 5 Nico Esterhuizen, 4 Heinz Koll, 3 Marius Visser, 2 Hugo Horn, 1 Kees Lensing (captain).
Replacements: 16 Shaun Esterhuizen, 17 Johnny Redelinghuys, 18 Jané du Toit, 19 PJ van Lill, 20 Ismael du Plessis, 21 Wacca Kazombiaze, 22 Robert Herridge
Coach: John Williams.
Tunisia squad: Gharsallah Amine, Kochlaf Ali, Zemzem Abdelmajid, Kherfani Abbes, Chelly Haithem, Hamdi Amor, Ben Lofti, Aymen Gloulou, Amor Mezgar, Garali Mohamed, Chahir Aouadi, Ben Sabeur, Kassar El Aziz, Zegdene Khaled, Ben Hmida Mohamed, Gmir Sabri, Limem Sami, Aissa Kais, Akrem Aouemri, Yousri Souguir, Amara Dridi, Hedi Souid.
Coach: Daniël de Viliers.
Date: Saturday, 28 November 2009
Kick-off: 16.00 (local time)
Venue: Hein Geigob Stadium, Windhoek
Expected weather conditions: Overcast with a high of 33°C dropping to 17°C and a light westerly wind
Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Pro Legoete (South Africa), Marc van Zyl (South Africa)
