The Under-19 team secured qualification with a come-from-behind victory against rivals Namibia, who they beat 29-15 in the final of the Confederation of African Rugby finals played in Ivory Coast.
Jakakasi Tatanoa was the star of the show with two tries in Abidjan.
Zimbabwe opened the scoring through a Nelson Thomas penalty, but it was Namibia who scored the first try of the match through Otto Royal.
Thomas and Diergaardt Chase exchanged penalties to make the score 8-6 to Namibia, and Tjirare Tjihoohona extended the lead with the second try of the match, which Chase converted to take the score to 15-6.
Chase’s conversion was the last time Namibia troubled the score line, however, as Zimbabwe scored 23 unanswered points to take the title.
Tatanoa scored the first of his two tries just before half time, before Zimbudzana Farai crossed seconds after the restart to gain the lead.
Thomas converted Farai’s try and added a further penalty after 51 minutes, before Tatanoa added his second to take the score to 26-15. Thomas took his match tally to 14 points with his fourth penalty as Zimbabwe held on to lift the trophy in a memorable final.
Previously, Zimbabwe had beaten Uganda 29 to reach the final, whilst Namibia edged Tunisia 15-11. Tunisia won the third place play-off, beating Uganda 32-7.
Zimbabwes junior Sables finished seventh in this year’s JWRT in Moscow after a 46-22 victory over Papua New Guinea in the seventh place play-off. –
Post published in: Rugby