the most under-resourced sides in the
showcase. They have been at every
World Cup since 1999 but have always
had logistical battles, financial fights
and a lack of elite avenues for their
best home-based players.
Lensing explains the situation in 2003.
“World Rugby, which was the IRB back
then, put on one of the best-organised
tournaments ever. It was amazing. So
those parts – the buses, the food, the
hotels and stadiums – were really good,
well organised. But Namibia had really
bad-quality jerseys. For one game we
didn’t have any shorts to play in.
“Adrian ‘Moose’ Skeggs, who used to
play for the Reds, got involved with us.
He somehow got us some Canterbury
shorts. But they weren’t a Namibian
sponsor, so we couldn’t play with them
with the logo on them. So we got into
the changing room, they gave us these
new shorts and some permanent
markers. They said, ‘You can play with
these shorts but you must colour in the
Canterbury sign, otherwise Namibia
are going to get a massive fine.’
“Literally ten, 15 minutes before we
went out on the field, everyone was
sitting there with a permanent marker
and colouring in the Canterbury sign.
Otherwise we didn’t have shorts.”
Sartorial issues aside, what happened
to you on that fateful day in Adelaide?
Lensing muses. “We would kick off,
they maul us up to the halfway and then
pass the ball to one of Lote Tuqiri,
Chris Latham, Mat Rogers – he
was electric – or Stirling Mortlock.
Hey, the whole team was legends.
“I remember going into the
changing room at half-time – the
score was 69-0 – and we had to
walk to the left of the pavilion. I was
thinking, ‘We’re in big trouble’.
Because the first half was when
we were fresh and had our better
players on. The second half was
when they would open the taps.
“The main talk was that we
needed to slow it down and keep
possession. For that whole game
there was maybe five minutes
where we managed to keep the
ball, but you must remember they
had guys like George Smith. Our
ball security wasn’t good enough,
we weren’t strong enough.
“Weather-wise it was a perfect day.
The weekend before we played Ireland
in Sydney and it was raining. Ireland
were a really good team as well and
I’d say if it hadn’t rained, we probably
would have had a very similar result.
We kept the score more respectable
(64-7). It was a big hiding, but the rain
maybe meant they played more
conservative. In Adelaide, you couldn’t
complain about the weather at all.”
Lensing admits that he never imagined
in his darkest nightmares that another
international side would put 100 points
on them. When the
Wallabies ticked past
the ton, his thoughts
turned to Japan’s loss
to the All Blacks in1995, when the Kiwis won 145-17. He
hoped they wouldn’t lose that badly.
But their deficit was to be bigger.
Lensing, who was 25 at the time, is
proud of how he kept battling on, but he
admits that some veterans were already
‘at the bar’ when the Australians started
really cutting loose. He understands that
this was some lingering amateurism. By
the next World Cup in 2007, there was a
management clearout, a new approach
and more World Rugby investment.
Jump to Japan this year and Lensing
is full of hope that Namibia can claim
a first-ever World Cup win. The realist
in him admits it will be tough and that
Canada, who he feels the team should
target, are still a very good side. But
against every team, even the All Blacks
and the Springboks,
the team will tear
themselves apart
from the cause.
“It’s a Namibian
culture thing: we
will go flat out,” he
explains. “Think
of 2011 when
Chrysander Botha
tackled the Beast
(Tendai Mtawarira)
from the front. That
never should have
happened, he is
maybe 80kg and
the Beast is about
120kg, but he
decided ‘You’re not going to run over
me’. The kid put his body on the line.
That kind of commitment you are
going to get from all the Namibians.”
Who cares how hard the scoreboard
operators work with heart like that. n“Before we went out on the field
everyone was sitting there with a
permanent marker, colouring in”
Splashdown
Kees Lensing
takes a time-outHard to tame
David Lyons carries
against NamibiaDID YOU
KNOW?
Namibia’s best World
Cup result was in 2015
when they lost 17-16
to Georgia at Sandy
Park. “I’m immensely
proud,” said coach
Phil Davies after his
side had earned their
first-ever pool point, a
losing bonus point. It
was a feisty game that
Georgia bossed until a
final Namibia flourish,
fly-half Theuns Kotze
converting his late try
from the touchline.