Namibia secures Slaptjips IP for World Cup qualifiers

SPOTLIGHT: Jacques Burger can best be described as the chief cook and bottle washer of the Namibian game.

Burger, a hard-nosed loose forward who captained his country at the 2011 and 2015 World Cup tournaments, is hoping to arrest the decline of the national team over the last decade.

From Saturday, at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, the Welwitschias will hope to keep their proud record alive.

Namibia has participated in the last seven World Cup tournaments since qualifying for the first time in 1999.

However, chances of continuing that run hang in the balance in Dubai.

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Burger, named as one of the five players of the tournament in 2015, has called on Springbok Pieter Rossouw to help right the listing Namibian ship.

Rossouw was appointed head coach of Namibia literally just days before the squad departed for Dubai, stepping up from his position as attack coach which he only started back in September.

Burger hopes the return of Slaptjips, Rossouw’s nickname, will see them qualify for the global showpiece through the final qualifier in Dubai this month.

Like Springbok Gert Smal’s contribution in Zimbabwe, Rossouw is now looked at to do an ‘ambulance job’ on an ailing Namibian team.

Coaching stints with the Western Province and the Bulls have provided the 53-year-old with the IP that will hopefully see Namibia win in Dubai – where they face Belgium (November 8), Samoa (November 13) and Brazil (November 18).

In stark contrast to the progress of fellow Africans, Zimbabwe, Namibia is desperately clinging to their World Cup dream.

Burger, with 180-odd first-class game (100-plus for Saracens) stepped away from the game after his retirement, the result of a concussion he suffered in the 2015 World Cup pool match against Georgia.

However, the steady decline of the Namibian game prompted him to take up a ‘Director of Rugby’ role.

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“I always wanted to return to the Namibian game and see how I can make a difference,” the 42-year-old told @rugby365com,.

“It is a responsibility I have towards the country, as well as my love for Namibia.

“There is so much talent and so much that can be done in the country.”

With a number of people saying they don’t want to get involved, Burger decided to step in and try to salvage what many regarded as a lost cause.

“If we all took that approach, nothing would ever change,” he said about a Namibian team that slipped from a Top 20 (18th) to a lowly 27th place on the world rankings since the 2019 World Cup.

Chrysander Botha, with 50-odd Test caps for Namibia, was appointed as coach back in 2024.

However, Botha resigned from his role as head coach of the national team in June this year, just weeks before the Africa Cup tournament.

Botha, who had been in charge for only seven months, cited ‘work commitments’ as the reason for his resignation.

It forced Burger to double up, combining his DoR duties with that of head coach.

“There wasn’t much time to get everything in place, but we did the best we could,” he said of their heartbreaking two-point (28-30) loss to Zimbabwe in the Africa Cup Final in Kampala, Uganda, back in July.

That left them with only one remaining qualifying option for the 2027 World Cup in Australia, the Dubai qualifier.

Burger said coaching is not something he endeavoured to do, but he had to take it up as an emergency role.

“I wanted to improve the development and management of the game,” he told @rugby365com.

“There are a lot that needs to be resolved in the boardrooms.

“Financially, we are struggling to get support.”

He wanted to get a seasoned coach that could assist him in putting the right structures in place and the call went out to Rossouw.

“We are very happy with his contribution in the last fortnight,” Burger said.

Their pre-tournament hit-out against Boland in Malmesbury at the weekend saw the Cavaliers edge Namibia 26-17 in a hard-fought encounter.

“Our biggest challenge is that a large chunk of our players are amateurs,” Burger said.

“They have full-time employment, the towns [in this vast arid land] are far apart and it is difficult to get them together for training camps and a pre-tournament build-up.

“You only improve when you have a large squad that you can work with on a regular basis.

“We are also not able to pay the players. They are still playing for the love of the game.

“Then there are the players based abroad, who only gets released for international windows, which means you also don’t have much time with them to build continuity.”

The Namibian boss hopes for more game time and international competition in the build-up to 2027.

“We are not in a position where we have 50 players to select a team from,” he told @rugby365com.

“That is a goal for the future.

“Now, our focus is on Dubai, which will be a tough tournament.

“Hopefully, we can surprise those who are writing us off as no-hopers.”

The world rankings, ahead of the repechage starting on Saturday, have Samoa at No.16, followed by Belgium (No.22), Namibia (No.27) and Brazil (No.32).

“The advantage with a team like Belgium [Namibia’s first round opponents in Dubai] is that they get regular games against teams in their ranking band.

“They play competitive games, while we struggle with games.

“A lack of funding also means we can’t invite people to Namibia, because we have to carry the costs.”

With the World Cup qualifying carrot, the Dubai tournament will test the resolve of all four teams.

“Belgium has a giant set of forwards and solid in the set pieces,” Burger said.

“The only advantage is that there is virtually no footage of our games for the opposition to study.

“We know what to expect from them [Samoa, Belgium and Brazil] and it is going to take three quality outings from us to qualify.

“We are looking forward to the challenge of proving our detractors wrong.

“The contribution of Pieter [Rossouw] will ensure our attack functions better than a few months ago [at the Africa Cup].”

@rugby365com