Namibia name a 35-man squad and recruit ex-Springboks/England coach

Namibia have named a 35-man squad to travel to South America to continue Rugby World Cup preparations that are now being assisted by ex-Springboks and England coach Matt Proudfoot. The 51-year-old South African, who was capped on four occasions by Scotland between 1998 and 2003, was pictured at an open training day in Swakopmund last weekend.

Proudfoot was part of the 2019 World Cup-winning management team under Rassie Erasmus, but he left the Springboks following that triumph in Japan to coach the England scrum under Eddie Jones.

That employment ended last January after Steve Borthwick opted to revamp the coaching team that he had inherited from the Australian. This resulted in Proudfoot heading back to South Africa and he spent the early part of this year coaching the Maties Varsity Cup team in Stellenbosch.

He has now linked up with Namibia head coach Allister Coetzee and is set to head to France once the African minnows take part in preparatory Nations Cup matches against an Argentina XV on July 29 and Uruguay on August 5 in Montevideo before travelling to Temuco to meet Chile on August 12.

The squad of 35 heading to Uruguay includes 13 players who featured when Phil Davies was in charge for the 2019 World Cup in Japan. That campaign ended with a heavy defeat to New Zealand in Tokyo, their 22nd loss in all 22 World Cup matches they have played since their 1999 debut at the finals.

Namibia qualified for their seventh successive World Cup after beating Kenya 36-0 in the Rugby Africa Cup final last year. Their final warm-up match before the World Cup will be against South Africa’s Bulls in Windhoek on August 26 and they will then head to France to take part in Pool A, starting against Italy in St Etienne on September 9 before then playing New Zealand, France and Uruguay.