大象传媒

Up close and personal with Namibia (16)

• Ben Dirs
• 21 Sep 07, 01:12 PM

La Ciotat - Namibia may not be the most talented team at this World Cup but I鈥檇 wager they have one of the cosiest set-ups.

Situated in the town of , 20km from Marseille, their hotel has its toes dipped in the Med and is the sort of idyllic little place you鈥檇 plump for if you wanted to keep a mistress sweet.

Contrast this with Ireland鈥檚 HQ, a business hotel on the outskirts of and, if are to be believed, the scene of some disquiet.

Although coach Eddie O鈥橲ullivan has rubbished claims of disharmony in the Irish camp, exactly why many of the world鈥檚 top sides choose to stay in such soulless establishments remains a mystery.

Can Ireland鈥檚 players not be trusted in the belly of Bordeaux, hardly the world鈥檚 most hedonistic city? Is it really that much of a problem that they mix with their fans from time to time?

Back at 鈥檚 training ground in La Ciotat on Wednesday, the vibe could only have be more relaxed if the public address system had been piping out whale music.

And, having been shooed out of the All Blacks鈥� training ground in earlier that day, the chance to grab a few Namibians and act the goat proved irresistible.

Have a look at our from the front to see the tournament鈥檚 tallest (Nico Esterhuyse), heaviest (Marius Visser) and lightest (Heini Bock) players proving that you are allowed to muck about a bit from time to time, even if it is a World Cup.

Tommy and I head to later today, where we will be cheering on Namibia against Argentina on Saturday.

But tonight we鈥檒l try to get plumbed into a bar early for what promises to be the tournament鈥檚 first epic clash - between . Any campsite and bar suggestions are, as ever, welcome.

Much as it pains me to say it, I will be cheering for the hosts, purely because I shudder to think how the French public will react if their side fails to progress.

The bars of La Ciotat on Thursday night provided a glimpse of what might be, with Tommy and I forced to sit through a dubbed version of that smashing Irish comedy farce while Wales destroyed Japan on the other side.

All attempts to track down the game on Wednesday in Aix also proved fruitless, with the whole town seemingly rigged up to Marseille v Besiktas in the Champions League.

On Sunday, we head for where we will watch the Aussies take on Fiji and hopefully exchange a bit of banter with some Wallaby fans.

Having nothing to shout about on the sporting front, I feel a few rousing verses of that lovely old hymn 鈥淲e Get 10 Dollars to the Pound鈥� coming on.

Again, let us know the best places to head for a few sherberts before and after the game.

Levels of hygiene in The Bloggernaut have, I鈥檓 ashamed to say, hit a new low. So much so that when we brush it out at the end of October, we鈥檒l probably have enough dead skin and hair to build a whole new person.

Having failed to trouble the scorers so far on an amorous front, frustrations are beginning to mount in other areas.

The other day I spent five minutes nudging Tommy and getting him to look at a woman touching her toes in the park only to discover, when she pulled herself upright, that I鈥檇 been ogling the backside of a strapping chap.

By the way, does anyone know how to wipe your history from a laptop? Only joking bosses, although you might find it gets mysteriously smashed to bits on the ferry over from Calais鈥�

Ben Dirs is a 大象传媒 Sport journalist travelling around France in a camper van with Tom Fordyce.

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