Sports Desk
MOST streets and roads between and in Namibian towns and villages will be markedly quieter for 90 minutes from 13:00 tomorrow when 15 Namibian rugby Titans run out for their World Cup Opener against the Italian gladiators in Saint-Etienne on the Stade Geoffroy Guichard in France.
With the rugby giants, the All Blacks, playing the WRC hosts at the Stade De France in Saint-Dennis tonight, the Namibia/Italy fixture is the second match of the tournament, which is in Pool A. The Pool also comprises the host country, France.
All the teams are expected to play four matches against each other in their Pool, and the top two teams in the Rugby standings at the end of the Pool game fixtures will advance to the quarter-finals.
Italy and Namibia met once at the 2019 World Cup hosted by Japan. However, Italy beat Namibia in the game on September 22, 2019. They won the game by 47-22, scoring seven tries and six conversions. Namibia scored three tries, two conversions, and one penalty.
The Gladiators of Rome are the clear favourite to win the match, as they have a much higher ranking and a more balanced and talented squad than Namibia. However, the Namibia team is not to be underestimated, as they have legendary Namibian grit in their DNA.
Namibian tenacity and toughness are highly respected, and the Namibian team is very much aware and respectful of their fanatical national support and will always fight to the end.
Most importantly, the Welwitschias have qualified for every Rugby World Cup since 1999 but have never won a game. They have lost all 23 matches and target their first win at the France World Cup and need no better motivation for a first victory during this World Cup.
From its humble beginnings, the men’s Rugby World Cup is now regarded as the third biggest sporting event behind the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games.
The RWC has fully embraced the digital age over time, and the Rugby World Cup now has more eyes on it than ever before, with one million Twitter followers, nearly three-quarters of a million on Instagram, and another 4.55 million on Facebook, while TV audiences can surpass 900 million viewers.
At the men’s Rugby World Cup in Japan, match and non-match video content across World Rugby and Rugby World Cup social platforms delivered more than 2.1 billion views, nearly six times the figure achieved at Rugby World Cup 2015.
RWC 2019 in Japan was the most-watched rugby event ever with more than 857 million people around the world watching the action via World Rugby’s network of rights-holding broadcast partners, an increase of 26 per cent from the previous tournament in England.
Asia’s first Rugby World Cup saw the cumulative live audience grow from 479 million in 2015 to 501 million in 2019 – a five per cent increase – despite the time difference to the traditionally dominant rugby broadcast markets of France and the United Kingdom.
South Africa’s triumph over England was the most-watched Rugby World Cup final ever with an average live audience of 44.9 million fans.
Sources: ESPN, RWC, Twitter, and Facebook.
