Sevens team look to impress in Ceres

Sevens rugby
The Namibian invitational side are returning the favour after Witz Barbarians took on a tour to Windhoek late last year.
Andrew Poolman
  • 22 Hours Ago

A Namibian invitation team has departed by road from Windhoek to the Western Cape to compete in the Witz Barbarians sevens rugby tournament in Ceres this coming Saturday.

Thehard Lintvelt, lanky and lively loose forward of Trustco United, has been named the captain of the Namibian invitational side.

The Namibian participation follows the Witz Barbarians’ successful challenge to win the Ongos Valley Sevens in Windhoek last October.

Witz Barbarians displayed impressive talent and resilience on their way to the title – beating United, FNB Grootfontein and FNB Reho Falcon in their pool matches, before stopping FNB Kudus 21-0 in an intense semi-final. Their cup final against Wanderers was at 7-7 halftime, before the tourists scraped through 14-12 at the final whistle when one of Wanderers’ tries went unconverted.

Namibia sevens coach Justin Nel has assembled a squad of 13 which include a mixture of players with previous international exposure and promising newcomers.

Thehard Lintvelt will lead the squad also containing Irongwa Atshivudhi (Wanderers), Kee-shan Beukes (FNB Reho Falcon), Morgan Esterhuizen (FNB Western Suburbs), Kian Fransman (Wanderers), Neil Holtzhausen (Grootfontein), Enrique Husselmann (United), Lucio Isaacs (Kudus), Lasarus Joseph (Grootfontein), Richard Kasimbu (FNB Dolphin), Aurelio Plato (Kudus), Soobramoney Sammy (United) and Aljarreau Zaahl (FNB Unam). 

The group is accompanied by Bernice Döman (team manager, United) and Megon Sam (physiotherapist). 

At Ceres, the Namibians have been placed in Group C alongside Assassins (who also competed in Windhoek last October), Rising Stars and Ama Front. A total of 24 teams will contest the Witz Barbarians Sevens, spread across six groups in the pool phase.

Ongos Valley and Deo Pharma are two of the sponsors that came on board to make the trip for the Namibian team possible.