Gaborone, Oct 18 (IANS): Botswana's national women rugby 15's team left the country Thursday for Windhoek, Namibia for an international test match to be played Saturday.

The 28-member squad has been preparing in camp for the past two weeks and Coach Munya Mhonda said they hope to do well in the game, Xinhua reported. He told media before departure that the team was ready to go.

The ladies have been training for the past two months and recently took part in a 7's tournament in neighbouring South Africa where they finished second.

"They are technically good, we have been working on their strength and endurance just to make sure they are ready for the physically demanding 15's game," he said.

He added that the team is relatively young and inexperienced, but they want to get as much exposure at international level as possible. The once-off test will be played at the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium in the Namibian capital Windhoek.

The women have only being restricted to playing 7's and 10's rugby and are only recently starting to compete in the 15-a side, which is the full version of the game. Previously 15's rugby was only played by men. Namibia has already named its 27-member squad for the tie.