Namibia getting closer to New Zealand
On Wednesday the Namibian rugby team left the lovely beach town of Carcavelos between Lisbon and Cascais and headed for Tunis for what they hope will be a short stop on their journey to New Zealand, for it is there that they will play the first leg of the World Cup qualifier to decide who goes - themselves or their Tunisian opponents.
In the past the Namibians have found Tunis a hostile place, unlike any other hospitable place, a strange experience for the Namibians who are amongst the most hospitable people on earth.
For the 2007 World Cup, Namibia beat Morocco for the right to go to France. This time it's Morocco's neighbour and the Biltongboere know it will not be easy.
Last Saturday they had a match against Portugal in Lisbon and won 12-9. It was not a great performance but did give them a chance to get together and now they have strengthened by the inclusion of captain Kees Lensing and tough hooker Hugo Horn.
In fact the whole of the Namibian pack is experienced as all of them were at the 2007 World Cup, and they include tough Blue Bull Jacques Burger.
Art flyhalf they have the experienced ex-Matie Emile Wessels who now plays in Canberra and the former Boland captain and Cheetah centre Piet van Zyl who now plays in France.
Sir Billy Beaumont, vice-chairman of the IRB, will be at the match and the Webb Ellis trophy, the World Cup, will be on show at the Menzah Stadium in Tunis.
Teams:
Tunisia: 15 Sabeur Charrada, 14 Haithem Cheili, 13 Amor Hamdi, 12 Amor Mezgar, 11 Abbes Kherfani, 10 Lofti Bensellem, 9 Sabri Gmir, 8 Moured Souid, 7 Mohamed Ben Hmida, 6 Kaled Zegden, 5 Abdelmajid Zemzem, 4 Amara Dridi, 3 Akram Aouamri, 2 Aziz Kassar, 1 Hedi Souid (captain)
Replacements: 16 Noktar Guetari, 17 Sari Limevi ,18 Chahir Aouadi, 19 Amine Gharsallah, 20 Mohamed Ali Kochlef, 21 Aimen Gloulou, 22 Mohamed Garali
Namibia: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Bradley Langenhoven, 13 Piet van Zyl, 12 Tinus Venter, 11 Heini Bock, 10 Emile Wessels, 9 Jurie van Tonder, 8 Tinus du Plessis, 7 Jacques Nieuwenhuis, 6 Jacques Burger, 5 Nico Esterhuizen, 4 Wacca Kazombiaze, 3 Jane du Toit, 2 Hugo Horn, 1 Kees Lensing (captain).
Replacements: 6 Shaun Esterhuizen, 17 Marius Visser, 18 Heinz Koll, 19 PJ van Lill, 20 Eugene Jantjies, 21 Robert Herridge, 22 David Philander.
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Hassan Ti'razi (Morocco)