Burger leads Namibia to World Cup
The veteran flank will lead a squad where 14 of the 31 players selected have previous World Cup experience.
Burger is amongst four members of the squad that will be appearing in their third World Cup, with prop Johnnie Redelinghuys, loose forward Tinus du Plessis and scrumhalf Eugene Jantjies also part of the Namibian teams that participated in France 2007 and New Zealand 2011.
Redelinghuys is Namibia highest capped player of all time with 46 Test matches to his credit.
Nine players, Raoul Larson, Rohan Kitshoff, PJ van Lill, Theuns Kotzè, Darryl de La Harpe, Danie van Wyk, Conrad Marais, David Philander and Chrysander Botha also did duty in New Zealand in 2011.
Another feature of the squad is the inclusion of three players under the age of 21 in hooker Louis van der Westhuizen, flank Wian Conradie and scrumhalf Damian Stevens.
The squad has an average of almost 20 Test matches per player and an average age of just over 26.
Namibia’s head coach Phil Davies says the squad has a good combination of good experienced players mixed with youthful exuberance.
"There’s a lot of things you have to consider when making a selection like this, the dynamics of the group is very important and I think we have a number of young, but inexperienced players whose exuberance is rubbing off on the more experienced players," Davies explained.
"I think it is the strongest group of players who we could have picked. There’s some good versatility and a big number of players are in good form as we showed recently when we won four test matches and moved up to number 20 on the world rankings."
Davies admitted that it was very difficult to make the final selection as Namibia had developed depth in some positions over the last couple of months.
"It was tough, we have good depth in the midfield, lots of talent in the back three, and also in our back row. We do have some world class players in Jacques Burger and Renaldo Bothma amongst others, but in some areas we lack a bit of depth. We are looking at developing some young players for the future in those positions," said Davies.
Namibia face defending World Cup champions New Zealand on September 24, followed by Pool C matches against Georgia, Tonga and Argentina, all teams ranked in the top 15 and above Namibia in 20th spot on World Rugby’s latest rankings.
"I feel the players that have put their hand up have been rewarded with selection. There’s a lot of courage and character and we will be doing everything to get that first ever elusive win at a World Cup.
"I am pleased with the dynamics of the players who are based in Namibia and those who play professionally. We couldn’t ask for a group that is more together, a more committed group," said Davies.
The Namibian team returned to Windhoek on Thursday after a hugely successful training camp in Durban that included three joint training sessions with the Springboks.
Namibia World Cup squad:
Forwards: Johannes Coetzee, AJ de Klerk, Jaco Engels, Raoul Larson, Johnnie Redelinghuys, Casper Viviers, Louis van der Westhuizen, Torsten van Jaarsveld, Janco Venter, Tjiuee Uanivi, Renaldo Bothma, Jacques Burger, Wian Conradie, Leneve Damens, Tinus du Plessis, Rohan Kitshoff, PJ van Lill.
Backs: Eneill Buitendag, Eugene Jantjies, Damien Stevens, Theuns Kotzè, Darryl de La Harpe, Johan Deysel, JC Greyling, Danie van Wyk, Conrad Marais, David Philander, Heinrich Smith , Russell van Wyk, Chrysander Botha, Johan Tromp.
