Schalk van der Merwe is used to mixing it with the big beasts but he will have his work cut out when he and his compatriots line up alongside world champions Australia, Argentina, Ireland and Romania in World Cup pool A.

Van der Merwe, who did have a stint as a professional in Canada, now earns his corn as a lion and cheetah tamer.

However, he might find Argentinian Pumas and world champion Wallabies rather tougher to handle in Australia than his evident mastery of the King of the Beasts and the most fleet-footed animal on the planet.

Other star players for Namibia include scrum-half Hakkies Husselmann while the captain is Corne Powell, a centre for Windhoek Wanderers and also a doctor.

In the pack Van der Merwe vies for star billing with prop Kees Lensing who plays for the Mighty Elephants in South Africa and is another to come from farming stock.

With a small population scattered over sparsely-populated areas there is little infrastructure for competitive rugby and the Namibians are definitely punching above their weight.

However, qualification for the World Cup was hard.

A 24-17 defeat at the hands of Tunisia meant an aggregate score of 43-43 after the first match but it was the Namibians who qualified automatically, having scored more tries.

Namibia are coached by New Zealander Dave Waterston who knows what it takes to win a World Cup, having assisted Kitch Christie when the Springboks won the tournament on home soil in 1995.

Squad: Melrick Africa, Jurie Booysen, Wolfie Duvenhage, Jane du Toit, Neil du Toit, Sean Furter, Archie Graham, Du Preez Grobler, Hugo Horn, Hakkies Hüsselman, Eben Isaacs, Johan Jenkins, Regardt Kruger, Kees Lensing, Herman Lintvelt, Deon Mouton, J M Meyer, Ronaldo Pedro, Come Powell, Morné Schreuder, Heino Senekal, Desmond Snyders, Niel Swanepoel, Johannes Theron, Schalk van der Merwe, Lean van Dyk, Jurgens van Lill, Cor van Tonder, Rudie Van Vuuren, Emile Wessels.