Kotze advocating for league after heavy defeat

• BY MICHAEL UUGWANGA

THE senior women rugby coach Christel Janet ‘CJ’ Kotze said the only way the team can become competitive is when the country has a solid women’s league. The last time Namibia had a competitive female league was in 2014.

Kotze said this after seeing her team receive a heavy 75-5 defeat at home last Saturday to Zambia at the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium.

Against Zambia, the Namibian team never showed up as they were blown away by a well conditioned Zambian team that consists of players from an active league in both the 15s and in the rugby sevens, which Namibia currently does not have.

Kotze, a former national team player herself also said that the scoreline was a true reflection of the game.

“The defeat is a sign that our competition locally should grow even though our rugby has been thriving in the past two or three years, however we need to have a solid league in the 15s and in the rugby sevens, this is why Zambia team had an experienced team.

“The score was a true reflection of the game and Zambia had lots of field run even though we fought back but we did not manage to put up the same score.

We still have lots of work to do,” she said.

Despite the heavy defeat, Kotze is optimistic about the future after saying that she will continue to prepare the team once another chance arises.

“There are few competitions lined-up by Rugby Africa but we are still waiting for the fixtures. For us is to get back to the drawing board,” said Kotze.

Zambian team manager Cecilia Tresha told Confidente Sport after the match that her team’s performance was not a fluke.

“We have been playing rugby sevens against Uganda, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, so we have been involved in lots of matches before the Namibia game. We currently have five teams in the 15 league and five clubs in the rugby sevens league,” said Tresha.

Last week, Namdia Foundation gave the team a sponsorship amount of N3 750 towards their national team kit before the Zambia match.