Welwitschias

The Welwitschias, currently known as the Windhoek Draught Welwitschias due to sponsorship by Namibia Breweries Limited, are a Namibian rugby union team that often participates in South African domestic competitions. As of 2021, they are regular participants in the annual Rugby Challenge tournament, having previously played in the Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup.

This article is about the Namibian representative rugby union team playing in South African domestic competitions. For the national team, see Namibia national rugby union team. For the plant found in Namibia, see Welwitschia.

Welwitschias
UnionNamibia Rugby Union
Emblem(s)African fish eagle
RegionNamibia
Ground(s)Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium (Capacity: 10,000)
Coach(es)Jaco Engels and JP Nel
Captain(s)Eugene Jantjies
League(s)Currie Cup First Division
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.nru.com.na
Current season

They are based in Windhoek and play their home matches in the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium. The team mainly consists of players that play club rugby for teams in Namibia and is seen as a development team for the Namibia national team.

History

Prior to Namibia's independence in 1990, the region – then a South African mandate known as South West Africa – often participated in South African domestic competitions, such as the Currie Cup and Lion Cup. South West Africa played in the Currie Cup for the first time in 1954.[1] In 1987, they reached the semi-finals of the competition[2] after beating Western Transvaal in the Division B final,[3] and in 1988 they achieved their highest-ever finish of third in the competition. At the end of 1989, South West Africa withdrew from all South African domestic competitions due to uncertainty surrounding Namibia gaining independence.[4]

In 1999, a side from Namibia called the Kudus participated in the 1999 Vodacom Cup competition. They were rebranded as the Welwitschias (named after the Welwitschia plant, one of the national symbols of Namibia) for the 2000 and 2001 editions of the competition, finishing bottom of their section in all three seasons. They withdrew from the competition prior to the 2002 season, only returning after an eight-year absence to take part in the 2010 and 2011 competitions. They finished ahead of the Falcons in the 2010 event, but returned to the bottom of the log in 2011. After again not entering a team for the next three seasons, they returned to play in the 2015 Vodacom Cup in preparation for the 2015 Rugby World Cup held later that year.

In 2015, it was announced that the Welwitschias would return to playing in the Currie Cup competition on an annual basis from 2016 onwards.[5]

The Eastern Province elephants have put 110 points on this team in a single match.

Current squad

The following players were included in the Welwitschias squad for the 2019 Rugby Challenge series:[6]

Welwitschias Rugby Challenge squad

Props

Hookers

Locks

Loose forwards

Scrum-halves

Fly-halves

Centres

Wingers

Fullbacks

(c) denotes team captain and Bold denotes internationally capped.

References
  1. "History - NAMIBIA Rugby - 1916 to PRESENT". NAMIBIA Rugby - 1916 to PRESENT. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  2. "Currie Cup Finals History". SuperSport. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  3. "Currie Cup Matches - NAMIBIA Rugby - 1916 to PRESENT". NAMIBIA Rugby - 1916 to PRESENT. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  4. "SWA uit Raadskompetisies". Die Burger (in Afrikaans). 8 December 1989. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  5. "Namibia to participate in new-look Currie Cup". New Era. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  6. "Squad: Windhoek Draught Welwitschias". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
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