Rugby

Namibia Rugby Union president Bradley Basson announced that Danie Vermeulen had been appointed as Namibia’s national rugby coach at a press conference in Windhoek on Monday.

After a delay of more than two months, Vermeulen was finally announced as the new coach after seeing off other candidates such as Riaan Jantjies, Jakkals du Toit and Jood Opperman for the top post.

Opperman was however appointed as the national Under 19 coach while Ronaldo Pedro is the national Sevens coach.

United got their 2012 Rugby Premier League campaign off to a good start with a commanding 42-16 victory against Wanderers on Saturday, after leading 27-13 at halftime.

Wanderers had the home ground advantage but that counted for little as United took a grip on the match from the start.

Playing an expansive, running game, they ran in five great tries to pick up a bonus point, while flanker Winmar Rust had a great day with the boot. He added three penalties and four conversions for a personal tally of 17 points.

A national rugby coach has been appointed but will only be announced next Monday, when several other management positions will also be announced.

The vice president of the Namibia Rugby Union Danie Strauss told Namibia Sport that they will readvertise a few posts including that of the team manager and the conditioning coach and announce all the new appointments on Monday, April 2.

“We have already chosen a coach, but a few management positions still have to be filled so we will announce all the positions on Monday,” he said.

Wanderers beat Western Suburbs 16-13 in the FNB Derby that launched the 2012 rugby season in Namibia on Saturday.

Playing in front of a large crowd at the Wanderers field, Wanderers streaked into a 10-0 lead but Suburbs clawed their way back to level the match at 13-all midway through the second half.

Wanderers however won a penalty in the final minute that Haico Prinsloo put over to secure the victory.

Rugby in Namibia took the first steps towards normalisation on Saturday when Bradley Basson was elected unopposed as the president of the Namibia Rugby Union at its annual general meeting in Windhoek.

Danie Strauss, who headed the interim committee, following the resignation of the previous executive committee, was also elected unopposed as the vice president.

The future of rugby in Namibia was plunged into uncertainty with the announcement that the Namibia Rugby Union is insolvent and that its employees have been retrenched.

Furthermore, Namibia’s participation in the Vodacom Cup has come to an end while the appointment of a national coach has been postponed indefinitely.

These were just some of the grim realities painted by the NRU’s Interim Committee in a press release issued on Tuesday.

An announcement regarding the future of Namibian rugby will be made on Monday, January 30, specifically with regards to the new national coach and Namibia’s participation in the Vodacom Cup.

According to the chairman of the Interim Committee, Danie Strauss, the NRU’s financial statements have been handed in, which was a prerequisite for starting the process of electing a new executive committee.

“The audited financial statements should be ready by Friday, so we will be able to start the process of electing a new executive committee then,” he said.

Namibian flanker Tinus du Plessis, who was recently signed by English Premier League club Wasps, has already set his sights on going toe-to-toe with compatriot and national team captain Jacques Burger.

According to Wasps’ official website the 27-year-old Du Plessis, who previously had a spell in England with Rotherham, can't wait for the Premiership encounter with Saracens.

"We were room-mates," Du Plessis told the official Wasps site. "I already had some grief from him on Monday when Wasps lost, with some texts coming through.

Rugby draws praise in defeat

Namibia’s national rugby team performed on the biggest stage in the world when they competed at their fourth successive Rugby World Cup in September 2011.

The team had gone with high hopes of recording their first ever victory at the World Cup but it was not to be as they once again lost all their matches.

In the end the stark truth remained that Namibia had a largely amateur team taking on the world’s best professional outfits.

Saracens flanker and Namibian captain Jacques Burger has called on England to arrange midweek fixtures against Namibia during their three-Test summer tour of South Africa in 2012.

England are expected to travel with around 45 players and play at least two tour matches in between the Tests against the Springboks. Last year, England played the Australian Barbarians twice and the New Zealand Maori in similar fixtures during their summer tour.