Young Sables chase fourth title in Africa Cup final

The Zimbabwe Under-19 rugby team will be eyeing a successive fourth Confederations of African Rugby Cup title when they face bitter rivals, Namibia in a potentially blazing final at Prince Edward School, today.

Zimbabwe are the defending champions after winning the tournament for the past three years. They have outwitted Namibia in those encounters but their opponents tomorrow remain a strong side that deserves respect.

“They are a very strong side. Both the games they won shows that they are determined to win the Cup as well and the boys need not take them for granted and rely on the past results. Winning tomorrow’s game is important for the team because it gives them a ticket to compete at the JWRT in Chile next year. It is every player’s dream to play at such high level,” said head coach, Brighton Chivandire.

The Namibians topped Group A to lead the hosts with a point after winning 44-7 against Tunisia and 39-11 against Kenya. Zimbabwe won both their matches as well. But their first 13-10 victory against Kenya did not impress Chivandire despite later improving to beat Tunisia 42-0.

“We didn’t start well. I was not happy with the way we won against Kenya in the first match, it was not really convincing and we didn’t play like the defending champions. The second game was good, the boys improved a lot and they will be ready to face Namibia in the final tomorrow. We cannot promise anything but we can assure the nation that we will be playing to win,” he said.

Meanwhile, Harare Select who came in as a replacement of absent Uganda in Group B have surprised many by taking control on the field.

They first beat Zambia 27-14 in the opening game on Saturday and went on to humiliate Morocco 38-8 on Wednesday. The Harare Select meet Madagascar in the final match of Group B in what promises to be an enticing curtain raiser to the main Group A match.

Final Fixtures: Morocco v Zambia, Tunisia v Kenya, Harare Select v Madagascar, Zimbabwe v Namibia.

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