Van der Merwe ready when Namibia are thrown to the lions

BETWEEN head-butting lions, fending off Tunisian prostitutes and beating criminal charges of cruelty in his native Namibia, Schalk van der Merwe prepared for the World Cup.

Then, just when the lion tamer-cum-flanker thought adversity had been thwarted, two key Namibian players withdrew from rugby's pre-eminent tournament last month, citing problems with head coach Dave Waterston.

But van der Merwe made it; made it all the way to Horizon's Gold Resort in Salamander Bay, where the Namibians established their pre-World Cup training base.

Regardless of the challenges posed by pool A adversaries Australia, Ireland and Argentina, the Windhoek Wanderers veteran believes none could be greater than those already overcome.

"We're all very nervous," he admitted. "Having said that, it was a pretty tough road to get here."

That road began with a head-butt one that almost claimed his life. To this day, van der Merwe, a lion and cheetah tamer who operates a sanctuary for orphaned animals, can't explain why he jumped into the lion enclosure, trying to save his sister's favourite primate, a baboon.

But I asked him anyway.

"I started trying to pull the baboon out of the lion's mouth," van der Merwe said. "It didn't work. So I hit the lion in the face with my fist, but it just closed its eyes. So I head-butted it.

"After a while I hit the lion over the head with a rock and I got the baboon out, but it died. I just wasn't thinking. Even a tame lion can be very dangerous when it's eating."

Point taken. But what about the Tunisian prostitutes? According to van der Merwe, that story began in the city of Tunis, where Namibia were to play their final World Cup qualifying match.

Upon arriving at the airport, the Namibians were greeted by hecklers chanting "motherf*****s" and pelting players with rotten tomatoes and eggs. Those same hecklers continued the culinary cannonade from motorbikes, following the visitors' bus all the way to the team hotel.

"That night," van der Merwe continued, "someone paid prostitutes to keep knocking on our doors to keep us awake. We kept chasing them away down the corridor but they would come back again."

Any chance the odd player kept their door slightly ajar?

"No, they were really ugly," he said.

Bleary eyed and smelling of stale produce, Namibia boarded a 'hijacked' team bus to be delivered to the ground less than 30 minutes before kick-off.

"During the game, you felt like something was burning on your leg," van der Merwe said. "Then we saw boys in the stands with slingshots, firing stones at us."

Which brings us to the cruelty charge, since dropped by Namibian authorities. Van der Merwe stood accused of feigning to throw a 17-year-old boy, whom he suspected of stealing a sheep, into the lion enclosure.

"That's all over now," he said. "For us, the greatest challenge now is to win a game."