Rugby World Cup 2027 to be the first in over 30 years without Namibia

Rugby World Cup 2027 is to be the first tournament in more than 30 years without Namibia. The Welwitschias missed out on qualifying for the Australia host Rugby World Cup 2027 after losses to Belgium and Samoa in repechage. It means Namibia will face Brazil in the final round of repechage with neither team having a pathway to finish first.

The ongoing repechage tournament will conclude on Tuesday, November 18 in Dubai. The final round will see Namibia vs Brazil and the final between Samoa and Belgium. The winner of Samoa vs Belgium will qualify for Australia 2027 as the Final Place Winner. That team will claim the last remaining of the 24 spots.

Namibia debuted at Rugby World Cup 1999. The Welwitschias did so against Fiji in Béziers, France. The 67-18 defeat was followed by a 47-13 loss against France and a 72-11 defeat against Canada. The winless tournament was the first of seven Rugby World Cups wherein Namibia lost every match.

Rugby World Cup 2003 in Australia saw Namibia losing by a record margin at Rugby World Cups. No Rugby World Cup match since Australia’s 142-0 win over Namibia in Adelaide has threatened to have a larger points margin between the teams at full-time.

Namibia came close to beating Georgia at Rugby World Cup 2015. The Africans fell by a nail-bitting 17-16 against the Lelos in Exeter. The result saw Namibia claiming a first-ever losing bonus point in a Rugby World Cup match.

Four years later in Japan, Namibia finished with two competition points after their match against Canada was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis. It is unknown as to whether Namibia may have ended their winless run at Rugby World Cups; but, what is known is that Canada failed to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2023. That was the first Men’s Rugby World Cup without the Canadians.

Namibia’s Rugby World Cup 1999-2023 record is 26 matches played and 26 matches lost. The Welwitschias successfully qualified for Rugby World Cups 1999-2023 as Africa 1 but missed out on doing so for Rugby World Cup 2027. Zimbabwe upset Namibia in qualifiers to book the Africa 1 spot for Australia 2027.