Namibia’s Rugby World Cup training squad has taken the unusual step of issuing a statement calling for unity and the public’s backing in the wake of a turbulent time off the field.
Danie Vermeulen last week resigned as coach just months before the start of the World Cup in England and has been replaced by Welsh technical director Phil Davies.
Vermeulen went public with his grievances, accusing the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) of a lack of support in the build-up to the tournament, which has opened debate in the country and shifted focus away from their achievement of reaching the global showpiece for a fifth consecutive time.
The 50-man squad in camp in Windhoek yesterday issued a statement through the NRU in which they have called for calm.
“Talk about rugby in Namibia is currently dominated by internal controversy amongst coaching and administrative staff. The players are not involved and not siding with the opinions of any of the individuals,” the statement said.
“We are amongst the World Cup qualifiers with the least resources, including direct income and sponsorships. Most of our squad are working men with responsibilities for jobs and families,” it said. “We will not lose perspective in the heat of all the drama we now read about and that is playing out at a different level, in committee rooms.”
“Local players train daily in the early morning, in the cold hours before work, and late into the evenings after work,” it added. “They commit weekend after weekend and often have to take weeks of unpaid leave to travel.”
“There are hard sacrifices at work and on a personal level for every player in the squad,” the statement said.
Having laid out their challenging circumstances, the players have called for public backing.
Namibia are to play Russia in Windhoek in two Test matches on Saturday next week and July 18.
They have been drawn in Group C at the World Cup, which runs from Sept. 18 through Oct. 31, along with New Zealand, Argentina, Georgia and Tonga.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
In-form teenager Mirra Andreeva on Thursday crashed out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, after going down in straight sets to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16. World No. 7 Andreeva, who already has two titles under her belt this season, lost 6-3, 6-2 against the 22nd-ranked Alexandrova in just over an hour. The 17-year-old Andreeva had defeated her elder sister Erika in the previous round on Wednesday, but Alexandrova quickly took control as she claimed her fourth win over a top-10 player this season. The 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in February became the youngest winner of a WTA
RSS