Rugby World Cup 2027 is to be the first tournament in more than 30 years without Namibia. The Welwitschias missed out on qualifying for the Australia host Rugby World Cup 2027 after losses to Belgium and Samoa in repechage. It means Namibia will face Brazil in the final round of repechage with neither team having a pathway to finish first.
The ongoing repechage tournament will conclude on Tuesday, November 18 in Dubai. The final round will see Namibia vs Brazil and the final between Samoa and Belgium. The winner of Samoa vs Belgium will qualify for Australia 2027 as the Final Place Winner. That team will claim the last remaining of the 24 spots.
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| NAMIBIA AT RUGBY WORLD CUPS |
Namibia debuted at Rugby World Cup 1999. The Welwitschias did so against Fiji in Béziers, France. The 67-18 defeat was followed by a 47-13 loss against France and a 72-11 defeat against Canada. The winless tournament was the first of seven Rugby World Cups wherein Namibia lost every match.
Rugby World Cup 2003 in Australia saw Namibia losing by a record margin at Rugby World Cups. No Rugby World Cup match since Australia’s 142-0 win over Namibia in Adelaide has threatened to have a larger points margin between the teams at full-time.
Namibia came close to beating Georgia at Rugby World Cup 2015. The Africans fell by a nail-bitting 17-16 against the Lelos in Exeter. The result saw Namibia claiming a first-ever losing bonus point in a Rugby World Cup match.
Four years later in Japan, Namibia finished with two competition points after their match against Canada was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis. It is unknown as to whether Namibia may have ended their winless run at Rugby World Cups; but, what is known is that Canada failed to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2023. That was the first Men’s Rugby World Cup without the Canadians.
Namibia’s Rugby World Cup 1999-2023 record is 26 matches played and 26 matches lost. The Welwitschias successfully qualified for Rugby World Cups 1999-2023 as Africa 1 but missed out on doing so for Rugby World Cup 2027. Zimbabwe upset Namibia in qualifiers to book the Africa 1 spot for Australia 2027.
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 SABLES OVER WELWITSCHIAS |
Zimbabwe competed at Rugby World Cups 1987 and 1991, meaning that the 2027 tournament will be their first in 36 years. It is a record in itself as no team has gone so long in between competing at Rugby World Cups. The Zimbabwe Sables were also the first African competitor as South Africa’s debut was not until 1995. That tournament also saw Cotê d’Ivoire competing in their only Rugby World Cup thus far.
Namibia’s 30-28 loss to the Sables saw Namibia officially becoming Africa 2 and entering a play-off against Asia 2. That contest saw Namibia comprehensively beating the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 86-29. In doing so, Namibia became the second team, after Belgium, to book a spot in the global repechage tournament.
Rugby World Cup 2027 will be very different to recent editions of the tournament. Not only due to expansion from 20 to 24 teams nor due to the change from four pools of five to six pools of four but also because of the competitors. The tournament will see Zimbabwe in place of Namibia, Canada and the USA both back after missing 2023, Spain back for the first time since 1999 and Hong Kong  making their debut.
