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Durban camp vital for Welwitschias Rugby World Cup prep

Namibia’s number one sports supporter, Robbie Savage was at hand to receive the Africa Cup following Zimbabwe’s thrashing at the hands of the Welwitchias.

Namibia’s national Rugby squad will travel to South Africa on Sunday for a 4-day training camp in Durban. The visit will include a number of joint practise sessions with the Springboks following an approach from the Namibia Rugby Union to the South African Rugby Union for assistance with Namibia’s Rugby World Cup preparations.

According to Namibia’s Head Coach Phil Davies, the training camp is an important part of Namibia’s Rugby World Cup campaign. “The training camp in Durban is vital for our preparations as it will expose our players to Tier One opposition,”said Davies.
The squad of 36 players is expected to arrive in Durban late Sunday afternoon and will kick-off the training camp Monday morning. Three joint sessions have been planned with the Springbok training squad which will be based on attacking and defence structures.
“The focus will be on delivering our systems efficiently under pressure and we are hoping for confirmation that our structures in attack and defence work against a world class team,” said Davies.
This will be the first time that the squad of 36 will be together outside Windhoek and for Davies and his management an ideal opportunity for a Rugby World Cup dry run ahead of their departure for England next month.
“It is a great opportunity for us to replicate a World Cup week,” said Davies.
On Wednesday Davies trimmed his original squad of 51 down to 36 players and next week a further five players will be cut before the Namibian squad for Rugby World Cup 2015 is confirmed.
“The training camp in Durban is crucial for all the lads to set up their performance and will be the key to making the final selections,” said Davies.
Namibia Rugby Union President Bradley Basson has urged the squad to make full use of the opportunity to practise with the Springboks.
“It is your last chance to make the World Cup squad, it is not going to be an easy 4 days but if you show the same commitment that you did during our last four test matches at home, then it will be a very successful exercise and you will make Namibia proud,” said Basson.
The squad of 36 players for the training camp in Durban includes no fewer than 15 players with Rugby World Cup experience while four players, captain Jacques Burger, prop Johnnie Redelinghuys, loose-forward Tinus du Plessis and scrum-half Eugene Jantjies also featured for Namibia at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.

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