New Plymouth - AFP
Wales will bid to put Namibia to the sword when the two sides meet in Monday\'s Pool D match to take a step towards qualifying for the knock-out phase of the World Cup.The Welsh narrowly lost their opener 17-16 to South Africa but rebounded to beat Samoa 17-10. After the Namibia test, they face Fiji in their final game, the South Sea Islanders having knocked them out of the 2007 World Cup. Namibia, however, have correctly proven to be the pool\'s whipping boys having notched up three heavy defeats to Fiji (49-25), Samoa (49-12) and South Africa (87-0). The African side now face an awful four-day turnaround from the Springbok routing to face a Wales team that comes into the game after an eight-day lay-off. \"It is tough, it\'s tough for a team with a lot of amateurs but we don\'t want to make excuses,\" Namibia captain Jacques Burger said of the swift turnaround. \"We\'re here at the World Cup. We qualified for the World Cup. \"But it is a very short turnaround. There\'s not much you can change in three days. \"We just have to have a look at the video (of the match against South Africa) and also have a good look at ourselves, everybody personally, to see where we did go wrong - to see what exactly went wrong and where we can change a couple of things. \"But there\'s not a lot to do. You can have all your structures in place, you can be the most amazing structural team, but it\'s sometimes just a matter of raw power.\"There was some sympathy for Namibia\'s plight from Welsh back Leigh Halfpenny, who came on as a replacement against Samoa and whose break was decisive in creating Shane Williams\' winning try. \"South Africa was a physical game for them (Namibia). I am sure it took a fair bit out of them,\" Halfpenny said.\"For us, it will be about not being complacent. It is a Test match for us and it will be as tough as any other game.\"The boys will be massively up for it. There\'s a few who\'ve looked really sharp in training and will want to really prove themselves.\" Burger said his team had to refind their belief after their pummelling by the Springboks. \"After the game I was very disappointed because I don\'t believe they are 87 points better than us,\" the Saracens flanker said.\"It\'s a matter of belief. I really believe that this side is much better than we are playing at the moment because we do play good at times, we do look good at times. We\'re just not putting it together.\"You just have to pick the pieces and start from scratch. And I\'m sure we will. It\'s the last World Cup game, there\'s a lot play for.\" Assistant Wales coach Rob Howley said his team would take nothing for granted. \"We need to get our tactics right, particularly in the first 25 minutes,\" the former international scrum-half said. \"Every game we are looking for the bonus point. We need to win the match and win it well. \"We need to be accurate and have good tempo. We had good tempo against South Africa, but we struggled in the Samoa game because it was so stop-start. \"When opportunities come, we need to take them.\"