By Michael Uugwanga

THE country’s senior men rugby side, nicknamed the Welwitschias is in danger of losing out for a place at the 2027 Rugby World Cup, following a defeat to Zimbabwe in the final of the Africa Cup over the past weekend in Kampala, Uganda. 
The match recorded 30-28 points, which resulted in Zimbabwe qualifying for its first rugby world cup since 1991.
While the country fell short in the final, it still remains in contention for a place at the Rugby World Cup that will be staged in Australia, as a runner-up. This means they will face the second placed team from the Asia Rugby Championship, which is the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in a cross regional play off this coming Saturday, 26 July in Uganda.
 

The winner of the match will advance to the final qualification tournament for a final opportunity to secure their spot in Australia.
The Welwitchias is one of the few sides that has never missed a world cup campaign since 1999, when they made their debut  in Wales and went on to feature in other six world cups. The last appearance being the one of 2023 in France.
If the Welwitschias fails to make it to the Rugby World Cup, it will be a big blow to the country’s rugby union, that usually get good funding from world rugby and from the government.
 

Riaan van Zyl, who currently plays professional rugby in Poland for Krakow, still believes that the team can qualify for the World Cup. “For us as a nation it came as a shock. It was really anyone’s game, unfortunately its part of the game. There had to be someone on the losing end,” Van Zyl said.
 

“This is where we as a team needs to pull together. It will be important for our senior players to get the boys together and build together. Its part of life, but it is in these moments that it shows character.  
“The road forward will not be easy and each year the sport is getting more and more competitive. The boys need to pull together and see this through. Anything is possible. It just comes down to who wants it more,” he added.
A local rugby expert, Willie van Zyl, said he was surprised by the defeat.
 

“I really thought they had a chance to beat Zimbabwe but Zimbabwe ‘s rugby is on a big upward. They (Zimbabwe) have invested money into the team and also got players from abroad to boost their chances,” Willie said. 
“It will now be difficult because I do not know if all the overseas players will be available this weekend against UAE. I do believe that we can beat them (UAE) easily but then it will be tough to qualify at the end of year’s playoffs against, for instance Canada,” he added. 
 

The Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) recently held a press conference, citing concern regarding the team’s performance against Zimbabwe and the way forward for the team ahead of the match against UAE.
NRU president Petri Theron noted: “This result is naturally disappointing for us all. However, let me assure you, our journey is not over. Namibia remains firmly in the hunt for qualification to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
“We now turn our focus to the Africa - Asia Play-off. The winner of this vital match will proceed to the final repechage tournament to be held in Dubai in November 2025.”
 

The final repechage to the 2027 Rugby World Cup will feature a four-team round-robin competition, with only one team securing the last available ticket to the world cup. 
The participating nations are Brazil, Canada, Belgium and Namibia or UAE.