The Zimbabwe Under-20 rugby team head coach, Brighton Chivandire, looked on the brighter side of his sides 14-21 loss at the hands of the British Independent Schools Barbarians team, last Wednesday.
It was going to be great for us to win the match but I knew it was always going to be difficult playing kids from top United Kingdom schools. But there were some positives in this game as we were watching a number of players who will be playing in the Georgia Championships in May. We had players like Denham Zimbudzana, Mclean and Victor Mushoriwa who are part of the national under-20 side, he said.
The Young Sables whom according to Chivandire will be an amateur side at the Junior Rugby World Trophy in Georgia next month will be looking for surprise victories that will award them promotion into the highest level of the global event.
The young Zimbabweans will face a tough challenge against other seven teams -Canada, Japan, Russia, Samoa, Uruguay, USA and the hosts Georgia- who will also be eyeing promotion into the Under-20 IRB World Cup, next year. Only the top side will be rewarded with such an honour.
Despite displaying a competitive show in last years edition of the global showdown, the Young Sables ended seventh out of eight teams, which makes their dream of promotion a tough mission as they are bound to meet one of the tournaments best top teams in their first match.
A number of players who include captain Marco Mama, Charles Jiji, Tatenda Karuru, Takudzwa Jaravaza and Takudzwa Mandiwanza who were in Russia for the previous edition of the tournament are expected to inspire their countrymen who will be making their maiden appearance at such a high profile showdown.
Post published in: Rugby