Allister Coetzee, head coach of Namibia said although they appreciate the support of World Rugby the support must be ongoing and not only reserved for the year leading to the World Cup, to have a long-term effect.
"The first thing is we appreciate the support of World Rugby, and they are really doing well. We will be having a review of the World Cup in December in Australia. It is important that you cannot get all the support a year before (the World Cup), it has to be much earlier in the process. It takes players to build the capacity in terms of conditioning, it takes a while, it takes time, it's not a quick fix. It's not easy."
Coetzee said it was a privilege to face the Haka and that he is proud of the way Namibia stuck in the fight.
"Of course. It's a privilege to face the Haka. For a player that's a challenge that was thrown at them. Irrespective of the scoreline, I am proud of the way they stuck in the fight. Namibia last played against a tier-one side like the All Blacks (before this World Cup) probably at the last World Cup (2019) and that is the difference.
"The national side doesn't have the privilege of playing in the Rugby Championship and other top competitions but they qualified to get to a World Cup, so hopefully in the future, we get more of these games, whereby you learn about the tempo of the game, the pace of the game and the collisions. That is the difference with performance nations like us."
Coetzee stressed their goal at the Rugby World Cup was a win against Uruguay. "Look, our World Cup is about to start, we are building for that last game, we've got our objectives still in sight and if we don't get any more injuries, we will be fine for the last game."
