Pine: Namibia ready for best RWC yet

Within six days next month, they will play against both the All Blacks and France, but Namibia is nevertheless ready to deliver its best performance to date at a Rugby World Cup tournament.“It’s a tough challenge, but it’s special to play against those teams. You have to embrace the challenge and appreciate the greatness of the opportunity,” says Pine Pienaar, who assists the Namibians as defence coach.“Namibia has never before been able to win a match at a World Cup tournament and that’s one of the goals that Allister (Coetzee) has set. We have a good group of players and the team’s preparation has gone well so far,” says Pienaar.Coetzee, former Springbok coach, has an experienced coaching team going to France with him.Apart from Pienaar, regarded as one of the leading defence coaches in South African rugby, Matthew Proudfoot, former assistant coach of the Boks and England, as well as Barend Pieterse, who has just been appointed as the Lions’ forward and lineout coach, are members of Coetzee’s coaching team.“It’s a privilege to work with Allister. We used to coach against him when he was still with the Stormers. He is very experienced and it means a lot to me to be a member of his team,” says Pienaar.“Matt has been with the Boks and England and I must also mention the names of the other assistant coaches, Barend and Chrysander Botha. Chrysander is a legend of Namibian rugby and it is really nice to be part of the team’s World Cup journey.”Pienaar says Coetzee has chosen a formidable group. In the backline are smart and underrated players such as the captain, Johan Deysel, Divan Rossouw and Tiaan Swanepoel, who all previously played Super Rugby for South African franchises.“There are also players with enough World Cup experience, such as lock PJ van Lill (39), who is playing in his fourth tournament this year. Richard Hardwick (loose forward) has played for the Wallabies and Wian Conradie has also played in two World Cup tournaments and is a very good player.”The prospect of playing against New Zealand and France must be intimidating for any defense coach?“Of course, yes. Everyone knows the profile of those teams’ players. We looked at ways not to defend the whole game, because that will keep you under tremendous pressure,” says Pienaar.“But before we focus on those teams, we first want to make sure that we start the tournament with a strong performance against Italy. Hopefully we will then be in a good place before our last pool match against Uruguay.”Namibia could make a few adjustments based on Saturday’s last appearance in Windhoek before their departure to France – against Pienaar’s old team, the Bulls.“This is an important game for us, especially because we have selected several players who have not had much playing time recently,” he says.“Our depth is important, because you are not going to be able to play the same 23 in every match in France. There are a few guys who get the chance on Saturday to show that they belong in the starting team.”– Netwerk24

Pine: Namibia ready for best RWC yet

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Allgemeine Zeitung 2025-04-04

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Pine: Namibia ready for best RWC yet

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Allgemeine Zeitung 2025-04-04

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