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Namibia beef up for battle with Georgia

This comes ahead of Wednesday's World Cup Pool C encounter against Georgia at Sandy Park, Exeter.

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The introduction of 31-year-old Johnny Redelinghuys, who becomes the first Namibian to win a half-century of caps, at loosehead and their best tighthead, Raoul Larson, who missed the defeat by Tonga last week with a strained hamstring, is important for the Namibians who are searching for an elusive first win in the finals of World Cups.

Georgia tested the New Zealand scrum last Friday three days after Tonga caused Namibia all sorts of problems at the set-piece and Namibia's forwards coach Henry Kemp and his players have been working hard at their Plymouth base over the weekend.

Captain Jacques Burger, who this week will equal a Namibian record by winning an 11th cap in World Cup finals, said: "The scrum was a bit worrying in the Tongan game and we've been working on that. We may lack experience but we are learning a lot of lessons in this World Cup and hopefully we can put a couple of things right this week.

"We will need to play a bit smarter, but our skill level is up there and in this current squad there really isn't a lot of difference between the players who play abroad and those who play in Namibia. It will be tough but we still believe we can win and rest assured, we will give 100 per cent."

Phil Davies, the Namibia head coach, has made seven changes to Wednesday's starting line-up from the side beaten 35-21 by Tonga.

Two try-scorers from Namibia's opening two games do not make the starting line-up.

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Wing Johan Tromp drops to the bench while in the centres, Darryl De La Harpe replaces Johan Deysel, whose try against the All Blacks at the Olympic Stadium brought the house down.

Deysel however is expected to return against Argentina in Leicester next Sunday.

Welshman Davies is rotating his squad and by the end of Wednesday all 31 will have been on the pitch.

"The selection policy is aimed at getting a momentum so that we can remain competitive for the full 80 minutes.

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"Georgia we know are pretty strong, uncompromising and pragmatic. They are pretty direct and we've picked a squad to cause them problems. We will bring a lot of energy to the game and be committed to give us a chance.

"We need turnover ball so we can move them around the field. We are in a good place. We need the game of our lives to get that win but we believe we can."

Namibia: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 David Philander, 13 Danie van Wyk, 12 Darryl de la Harpe, 11 Russell van Wyk, 10 Theuns Kotze, 9 Eugene Jantjes, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Tinus du Plessis, 6 Jacques Burger (captain), 5 Tijuee Uanivi, 4 PJ van Lill, 3 Raoul Larson, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Johnny Redelinghuys.

Replacements: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Jaco Engels, 18 Johannes Coetzee, 19 Wian Conradie, 20 Rohan Kitshoff, 21 Johan Tromp, 22 Damian Stevens, 23 Heinrich Smit.

Date: Wednesday, October 7

Venue: Sandy Park, Exeter

Kick-off: 20.00 (19.00 GMT; 21.00 Namibian time; 23.00 Georgian time)

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)             

Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Stuart Berry (South Africa)    

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

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