Namibia hope for strong finish

Published: Saturday, 24. September, 2011 in category Northern Hemishere
Burger: Will keep playing hard

They have conceded 185 points in losing to world champions South Africa and also Samoa and Fiji, with Wales also expected to prove far too strong.

But skipper Jacques Burger said: "We are definitely going out with a positive outlook. Even if it sounds impossible, we have to go out and try to win.

"We have to play rugby like a winning side. That means less mistakes, sort out first-phase ball and keep the ball in hand.

"We are going to knock on, we're going to miss tackles, but we cannot just stop working hard.

"We don't want to play a slow game. We want to play with the ball, and we've not been doing that. Whenever we have the ball we don't look bad.

"If you play against top sides and you don't have a lot of ball then they are going to score a lot of points against you, which is what the Springboks did against us on Thursday."

Namibia head coach Johan Diergaardt fully expects Wales to come out firing, especially as they require a bonus point in their continued quest for a quarter-final place from Pool D.

"It is our last game in the World Cup, it's the last chance that players will have to present themselves on this stage," Diergaardt said.

"We need to concentrate for 80 minutes. We cannot play just for 60 minutes and allow seven tries in the last 20 minutes (as against South Africa, when Namibia lost 87-0).

"Most of the tries in that game didn't come from constructive work of the opposition, it was more our mistakes that led to them.

"I am not making any excuses, but that is the difference between amateurism and professionalism. You cannot compete, really, at all the stages at all times with a professional side.

"We just don't concentrate fully for 80 minutes, and you can't play against any of these teams with a lack of concentration for not even a second. That is too much.

"South Africa and all these big nations have the chance to play at this level again and again - 12, 14, 15 Tests a year.

"We don't have these chances. It is not making excuses, but it's our fourth real Test in four years at this level."