National Rugby coach Allister Coetzee said Namibia's 2023 Rugby World Cup plans are at an advanced stage with four preparatory matches confirmed before the team flies out to France.
Speaking at a press conference in Windhoek yesterday, Coetzee said the main aim is to get all the players in Namibia in what he termed 'club to the country'.
The camp will consist of 40 players, both local and international players.
The squad will then be trimmed, with other new players joining the second camp, which will take place at the coast before 35 players are selected to travel to the Nations Cup in Uruguay.
"Some of the players have already arrived in Namibia with all the overseas-based players expected to be in Windhoek on 25 June for the training camps between 3 July 2023 and 22 July. We will then leave for Uruguay to participate in the 2023 Nations Cup where we will face the Argentina XV, Uruguay and Chile," he said.
The Argentina match will not be a test match.
The coach and his technical team will then announce the World Cup squad of 33 players who will arrive in France on 31 August with the first match set for 9 September against Italy.
The team will first play their final preparatory match against the Blue Bulls in Windhoek before jetting off to France.
Coetzee said they took the opportunity to play the Nations Cup because it is always difficult to get quality matches during the World Cup preparatory stages.
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"This gives us at least two months of intensive world cup preparations which should be enough to help players handle a game in every five days at the World Cup," he said.
When asked about their targets at the World Cup, Coetzee said they set themselves reasonable targets for the tournament.
"The people set the targets for us. I get texts from people who say just win one game please...just one. We are in a tough group, but we do not play to lose a game. There is a process that we follow and I am not going to say I want to target the last game when we can win the first game or second game," he said. Namibia is in Group A alongside hosts France, Italy, New Zealand and Uruguay.
They will kick off their world cup against Italy on 9 September before playing New Zealand on 15 September.
That game will be followed by the one against hosts France on 21 September before finishing off the tournament against Uruguay on 27 September.
