N$3m for local rugby
Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) this week sponsored N$3 million to the Namibian Rugby Union (NRU).This sponsorship is geared towards supporting domestic club and regional tournaments for the Namibian rugby players to prepare themselves to qualify for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Under the brand name Windhoek Draught Welwitschias, NBL is keen to support the national sports team to display their local talents at home and international sporting events of this magnitude.
Given this sponsorship, NRU’s vice president Johan Diergaardt said: “The involvement of NBL in these initiatives is pivotal, not only for the advancement of rugby within Namibia but also for promoting our sport on the international stage.”
As a local company vested in the development of national sports, NBL’s marketing manager Tasneem Klazen said that through this partnership, NBL wants to strengthen the development of the sport locally, while enabling the team to elevate its profile on the global scene.
“This fruitful and mutually respectful partnership has come a long way over the last seven years. Our objective has always been for Namibia to qualify for the Rugby World Cup and our national team has shown great passion at the two tournaments during this time in Japan 2019 and France 2023. By encouraging a culture of excellence, we hope to create a national team all Namibians can be proud of,” Klazen said.
With this financial boost, the Namibian national team can now look forward to a test match against Portugal on 13 July, while it also allowed the u/20 team to compete at the recent Barthes Rugby Africa Cup tournament in Zimbabwe where they took a third spot behind winners Kenya and second placed Zimbabwe.