Namibia Crush UAE to Stay in Race for Men’s Rugby World Cup Qualification
“We asked for a second shot, we’ve got that second shot, and we will have to make it work.” — Jacques Burger, Namibia Head Coach
KAMPALA, Uganda – Namibia kept their Rugby World Cup dream alive with a resounding 86–29 victory over the United Arab Emirates in the Asia/Africa play-off on Saturday, 26 July, reigniting hopes of an eighth consecutive appearance on the world stage.
The Welwitschias failed to secure direct qualification to the Men’s Rugby World Cup Australia 2027 after losing a nail-biting Rugby Africa Cup final 30-28 to rivals Zimbabwe at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala on Saturday, July 19.
But returning to the venue of the Rugby Africa Cup a week later, the Welwitschias regrouped in style, flexing their muscles with pulsating 13 tries against a subdued UAE side that had its moments in the early stages before losing their way as the game progressed.
Namibia’s formidable pack of forwards, a key weapon of their success in Africa over a dominant spell spanning over two decades, was again in full force to wear out the Emiratis. The big men upfront laid the platform for the Welwitschias’ halves and outside backs to harvest points at regular intervals.
Winger Danie Van der Merwe led the rout with a hat-trick of tries while Aston Mukwilongo, Armand Combrick and Torsten van Jaarsveld all crossed the whitewash twice.
Richard Hardwick, Oliver Kurz, Max Katjijeko and Adriaan Ludick scored a try each.
Emosi Vecenaua grabbed a brace of tries for the UAE while Jack Stapley and Max Johnson also scored to save the blushes for the Asian side.
Namibia now progresses to the Final Qualification Tournament in November in Dubai, a four-team event involving sides from different parts of the world. The winner of that tournament qualifies for the Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027.
Should Namibia succeed, it would mark a historic first: three African teams at the Men’s Rugby World Cup.
Namibia’s coach Jacques Burger believes his men can achieve the feat, and also praised the standards of African rugby following the Welwitschias’ big win over the UAE as well as the level of rugby during the Rugby Africa Cup.
“When we play the way we did today, we are going to be tough to beat,” Burger said. “It just shows where African rugby is. Zimbabwe qualified, they deserved to qualify. We are also aiming to qualify. We asked for a second shot, we’ve got that second shot and we will have to make it work.”
Hong Kong clinched the 2025 Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship and thus secured their first-ever automatic qualification to the Rugby World Cup 2027. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe won the 2025 Rugby Africa Cup final, defeating Namibia 30‑28 and earned automatic qualification as Africa 1.
Notably, with all qualification set to conclude by the end of 2025, a first in Men’s Rugby World Cup history, all participating teams will be confirmed ahead of the Rugby World Cup 2027 Draw. The World Rugby Rankings will inform team seedings for the tournament draw. Fans interested in tickets for RWC 2027 can register here.
The match was played at Mandela National Stadium and broadcasted live by official partner NBS Sport (https://nbssport.co.ug), while also streamed globally on RugbyPass TV and the Rugby Africa Facebook page.
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Written by Enock Muchinjo
