Namibia will open their Rugby World Cup 2003 campaign at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford against a side they have never met before in Argentina, who themselves will be looking to bounce back after losing to Australia in their opening match.
The Welwitschias, as Namibia are known, are playing in their second consecutive Rugby World Cup but are still searching for a first victory after heavy defeats by Fiji, Canada and France in the 1999 Tournament.
Argentina by comparison have appeared in every Tournament to date with their best performance coming in 1999, when they announced their arrival by upsetting Ireland in the quarter final playoffs before losing to France 47-26.
However this quarter final was much closer than the score suggests with Argentina having trailed by only four points before fatigue set in with 15 minutes to go, allowing France to cut loose and pull away.
Physical encounter
Namibia are ranked 25th on the official IRB World Rankings, 18 places below their South American opponents, and play a similar style of game to their neighbours South Africa in that they are both physical and resilient.
France can testify to this, having felt the effects after a tough battle with Namibia in Rugby World Cup 1999, a match the Welwitschias took great pride in having scored an early try and been level with France after 20 minutes.
Argentina are a nation on the rise, the Pumas having built on their performances at the 1999 Tournament and reaped the rewards with a first ever series defeat of France in June and a narrow loss to South Africa confirming their rise up the world rankings.
This improvement has been helped by the fact that most of their leading players now ply their trade professionally in Europe, while the Argentinian scrum – La Bajada – is one of the best in the world game.
Mobile front row
Namibia have a very solid and mobile front row, while players to watch behind the pack will be wing Melrick Africa and full back Jurie Booysen, both of whom possess good speed and a lot of flair.
Pumas prop Omar Hasan has good hands and is good in the scrum, while La Bajada provides the platform for scrum half Agustín Pichot to display his talents, the captain’s quick hands and tactical brain making him one of the best in the world.
Another important figure for Argentina will be Rolando Martin, the flanker who will become his country’s most capped player – having equalled Lisandro Arbizu’s 84 cap record in the 24-8 defeat by Australia at Telstra Stadium, Sydney, on 10 October.
The teams:
Namibia will face a much changed Argentina squad in their opening Pool A game of Rugby World Cup 2003 with only wing Diego Albanese remaining from the Pumas side who started against Australia in the Tournament’s opening game.
Seven of those who started on the bench against the world champions have been prompted to the starting line up with one of them, scrum half Nicolás Fernández Miranda, named as captain in the absence of Agustín Pichot.
Pichot is named on the bench with Pumas coach Marcelo Loffreda giving other players a run out against Namibia at the Central Coast Stadium in Gosford.
Argentina:
15- Juán Hernández, 14- Hernán Senillosa, 13- Martín Gaitán, 12- Juán Fernández Miranda, 11- Diego Albanese, 10- Gonzalo Quesada, 9- Nicolás Fernández Miranda (captain), 8- Pablo Bouza, 7- Lucas Ostiglia, 6- Martín Durand, 5- Pedro Sporleder, 4- Rimas Alvarez, 3- Martín Scelzo, 2- Federico Méndez, 1- Mauricio Reggiardo.
Replacements: 16- Mario Ledesma, 17- Rodrigo Roncero, 18- Patricio Albacete, 19- Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, 20- Agustín Pichot, 21- Felipe Contepomi, 22- Ignacio Corleto.
Namibia:
15- Jurie Booysen, 14- Deon Mouton, 13- Du Preez Grobler, 12- Corne Powell, 11- Melrick Africa, 10- Rudi van Vuuren, 9- Hakkies Husselman, 8- Sean Furter (captain), 7- Hernan Lintvelt, 6- Schalk van der Merwe, 5- Eben Isaacs, 4- Heino Senekal, 3- Neil du Toit, 2- Johannes Meyer, 1- Kees Lensing.
Replacements: 16- Corvan Tonder, 17- Andries Blaauw, 18- Wolfie Duvenhage, 19- Jurgens van Lill, 20- Ronaldo Pedro, 21- Emile Wessels, 22- Vincent Dreyer.
Kick-off: Tuesday, October 14, 19.30 local (09:30 GMT, 10:30 BST)
Referee: Nigel Williams
Touch judges: Paul Honiss, Joël Dume
TMO: Alan Lewis
Stay tuned to rugbyworldcup.com for up to the minute match coverage as well as live audio and video highlights of the game.