Namibia out of Vodacom Cup
by Brenden Nel 01 February 2012, 14:20
The Vodacom Cup’s image of being a top development vehicle for African rugby took a massive blow when it was confirmed that Namibia would no longer take part.
The Namibian Rugby Union withdrew their side because of financial problems, as they would have been unable to sustain the burden that fielding a team in the competition would bring.
The move is a massive blow to the Namibians, who qualified for the World Cup and were the only other African side in the tournament in New Zealand last year.
The Volksblad quoted Saru head of communications Andy Colquhoun as confirming the move, which means there will be one less team in the tournament.
The Pampas -- an Argentinean XV -- will still take their place in the tournament after winning the competition last year.
Teams that were due to face the Welwitschias -- Namibia’s team -- will now have byes instead.
The tournament also faced a setback earlier when planned Monday games were scrapped after protests from the teams.