Weve an uphill task: Coach

godwin_murambiwaHARARE - Zimbabwe head coach Godwin Murambiwa conceded last week that his team faced a formidable task in the upcoming International Rugby Board (IRB) Junior World Rugby Trophy 2010, which kicks off in the Russian capital Moscow on Tuesday. (Pictured: Zimbabwe rugby coach God

It will be the first time Zimbabwe have been involved in an IRB age grade tournament since the IRB Under-19 Championships in Belfast in 2007 where they finished seventh in Division B. “It will be difficult for us,” admitted Murambiwa to the IRB official website.

Zimbabwe are grouped alongside Canada and Japan but Murambiwa was confident his boys would make an impression if they played to their strengths.

He said: “We have just looked at the stats on the website and by far the Canadians and Japanese are bigger than our boys, so we will have to concentrate in other areas where they won’t be able to match us. We have very quick boys from this part of the world. We have a young, exciting team with most of our youngsters playing in parts of South Africa, but we also have some playing as far off as Australia and in England.

We have a good mix, certainly a lot better than the side we took to Ireland in 2007. The first games are always difficult because you are sizing each other up, but you can learn about your opponents if you want to. Zimbabwe will join hosts Russia, defending champions Romania and other regional qualifiers Italy (Europe), Papua New Guinea (Oceania), 2008 winners Uruguay (South America), Japan (Asia) and Canada (North America) in the eight-team event running from May 18 to 30.

Zimbabwean rugby is beginning to pick up after a decade in the doldrums because of political and economic hardships. The sport which has lagged behind football and cricket in growth over the years, is gaining popularity in schools. Rugby development in Zimbabwe is facilitated through the school structure both at primary and secondary level with Under-14 and Under-18 teams now participating in the renowned Craven Week rugby festival in South Africa each year.

With the sport played in schools between May and August, Murambiwa revealed that a recent schools tournament attracted 146 teams, while a crowd of 20 000 watched the schoolboys final tie between two of Zimbabwe’s oldest rugby-playing schools, St Georges and Prince Edward.

In the old days we used to only play at Under-18 level at Craven Week, but now we play at Under-14 and we have reaped the benefits because the first group to have come through that experience at a younger age is this one that has qualified for the Junior World Rugby Trophy, he said.

In schools the sport has remained vibrant, but only now have the clubs started to come back because the money is there. So as long as we are operating at development level where we think we are, there are possibilities for Zimbabwe to become one of the lead packs in African rugby.

Post published in: Rugby

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