Five facts about Boks vs Namibia

The Springboks aim to put their Rugby World Cup 2019 campaign back on track when they meet Namibia in Toyota on Saturday. It is a must-win match for the Boks after losing 23-13 to the All Blacks last week. Here are five facts about the two sides’ history.

• It is only the third meeting between the nations. While Namibia participate in SA’s domestic competitions, they have met the Springboks twice before at international level. The first time was at Newlands in World Cup 2007 preparations and the second time in 2011 in New Zealand.

• The Boks have dominated: in those two meetings, the Boks won 105-13 at Newlands and 87-0 in Albany. In all, the Boks have scored 27 tries and conceded one in those matches.

• Namibia are one of four African countries to participate at a World Cup. Of the four African teams to play at a World Cup, SA (eight) have made more appearances than Namibia. Ivory Coast appeared once — in 1995 — and Zimbabwe twice, in 1987 and 1991. Namibia have participated in the past six tournaments, including 2019.

• Namibia have a small pool of registered players. According to the latest world rugby player number census in 2016, Namibia had a total of 14,226 registered players. The bulk of those were under-13, with 1,084 senior male players and 27 clubs. SA, by contrast, had 651,146 registered players, of whom 113,174 were senior males.

SA have about 100 times more eligible World Cup players than their neighbours.

• Namibia are winless at the World Cup — since making their debut in 1999 in Wales, Namibia have lost all 20 matches they have played. The narrowest defeat was in 2015 when they went down 17-16 to Georgia. They also hold the dubious record of enduring the heaviest margin of defeat at a World Cup when hosts Australia thrashed them 142-0 in 2003.