Namibia vs UAE Preview – Asia/Africa RWC 2027 Qualifier Play-Off

Namibia, who were runners-up in the Men’s Africa Cup 2025, will face the UAE, who were runners-up in the Asia Rugby Men’s Championship, in the Asia/Africa RWC 2027 Play-Off on 26 July at the Mandela National Stadium in Uganda.

This is the first time the two nations will meet in Men’s XVs rugby, and the winner of the cross-regional play-off match will keep their RWC 2027 dreams alive.

The Namibians have been to every Men’s RWC tournament since 1999, while the UAE have never qualified. The victor’s path is not easy, as they will still need to win the Final Qualification Tournament, which will be played in Dubai from 8-18 November.

The UAE competed for half an hour against the Asian champions Hong Kong China before losing, but did very well to overcome Korea in Incheon, and nearly let the second-place slip away with a stop-start performance win in Colombo during the Asian Championships.

Photo Credit – Asia Rugby – UAE – Asia Men’s Rugby Championship 2025

They need better conditioning and discipline, which is the team’s Achilles’ heel. They have had a player sin-binned in every AREMC 2025 match and need to improve that side of their game to try to overcome a powerful Welwitschias team. They conceded an average of 9 points when they were a player down, which is a handicap they can ill-afford. In total, the side has conceded six yellow cards and one red in their last five matches.

On the positive side, the addition of Max Johnson at fly-half and Brad Janes at flank has really bolstered the UAE team, with Janes scoring in all three matches across the Asian regional competition. The team scored 11 tries in total but conceded plenty of points across the three fixtures too. Bradley Janes, Jack Stapley and Niko Volavola each scored three tries. In the end, the two bonus-point wins ended up being crucial.

UAERF Secretary-General Mohammed Sultan Alzaabi said. “We head to Uganda with the ambition of reaching the World Cup qualifiers in Dubai, and facing Namibia is a historic opportunity to get closer to the dream of qualifying for the 2027 World Cup.”

For Namibia, they nearly pulled off a comeback win last week against Zimbabwe before losing the African Cup final 28-30. They scored the most points in the tournament with 104, and flyhalf Cliven Loubser scored 35 of those.

Photo Credit- Rugby Afrique – Namibia – Africa Men’s Cup 2025

Another player to watch would have been 26-year-old Le Roux Malan, who played at the last Rugby World Cup and is currently in the MLR with the New England Free Jacks, but he was not named in the matchday squad.

The side would have been disappointed to lose the African Cup two years in a row, as they are the most successful side in the competition with 8 titles.

Namibia had to overcome changes in 2025 as former national team captain and Saracens player Jacques Burger stepped up to take on the head coach responsibilities (he is also the director of rugby) after coach Chrysander Botha resigned just weeks before the African Cup.

Photo Credit- Rugby Afrique – the two captains – Andrew Semple (UAE) and Prince Gaoseb (Namibia)

Burger said following the loss last week, “That’s the fight we will need to go further from here on. I know nobody gives us a chance now; everyone has written us off, but we must just go out and show the people what we are made of.”

Rugby Afrique reported on the eve of the match that Namibia have made three changes to their squad following injuries sustained during the Africa Cup, with Jacques Theron, Wian Conradie, and Jay-Cee Nel ruled out, and Quirone Majiedt, Aston Mukwilongo, and Gerhard Opperman flown in as replacements.

UAE Results – Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship 2025 

• UAE 10-43 Hong Kong China (Dubai, UAE)
• Korea 36-38 UAE (Incheon, Korea)
• Sri Lanka 21-29 UAE (Colombo, Sri Lanka)

Namibia Results – Africa Men’s Cup 2025

• Namibia 55-17 Senegal
• Namibia 21-7 Algeria
• Namibia 28-30 Zimbabwe

Match Permutations – Namibia vs UAE- 26 July 2025

Namibia have dropped to 25th in World Rugby’s global rankings, while the UAE are at a record high of 39 – having risen 40 places since the start of the year.

• If the United Arab Emirates win, they will reach another record high and move up to 36th. If they win by more than 15 points, they could go as high as 34th
• Namibia cannot improve their ranking, but a defeat could drop them to a new low of 30th.

Namibia’s Squad vs UAE  – July 26 2025

UAE Squad vs Namibia  – July 26 2025

TBC – There were none confirmed the day before the match and at the time of publishing.

Photo Credit – Rugby Afrique

How To Watch Namibia vs UAE Asia/Africa Play-Off Match

The Namibia vs UAE match will be streamed on RugbyPassTV and on Rugby Africa’s Facebook page.

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