Young Sables on revenge mission

Canada fell to the host nation 9-38 as Zimbabwe suffered a 24-37 defeat at the hands of Japan in their opening matches of the tournament. Both teams were set to play each others opponent from the first match last night. But when they face each other on Wednesday, Canada will be looking at proving that their victory was no fluke, as the match will be nothing less of a revenge mission for the Young Sables.

It will be an interesting match because obviously we will be marching onto the field as underdogs without any pressure. They will only be making a mistake if they choose not to respect us because of what happened in Russia last year. That is in the past and the boys are hungry for a victory, said Young Sables assistant coach, Godwin Murambiwa. The guys have learnt from their past games and they are ready to take every experience into the next match.

IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy was launched in 2008 and both Canada and Zimbabwe made their debut appearance last year. Canada finished sixth after a win over Zimbabwe was followed by defeats to Russia, Japan and Uruguay. Zimbabwe lost to Russia and Canada to finish bottom of their pool before beating Papua New Guinea 46-22 in the play-off for seventh place.

The Young Sables qualified for this years tournament by winning the 2010 Confederation of African Rugby Under 19s trophy, beating Namibia 29-15 in the final. Zimbabwe has five players in their starting line-up who played in the 2010 tournament while Canada boasts of eight players from the previous competition.

The Zimbabwean players who took part in the Russian edition of the JWRT are captain Marco Mama, who scored two tries in Zimbabwes win over Papua New Guinea, hooker Tatenda Karuru, who also scored a try in that game, second row Takudzwa Jaravaza, flanker Takudzwa Mandizvidza and wing Charles Jiji, who played at scrum half last year and kicked 16 points against Papua New Guinea.

Canadas experienced eight players from last year include captain Tyler Ardon, prop Scott MacLeod, hooker Casey Cavers, second row Scott MacDonald, fly half Jeff Hassler, inside centre Patrick Parfrey, full back Liam Underwood and wing Kurtis Appledoorn who scored a try in the 13-11 defeat to Uruguay in the fifth place play-off. The average weight of the Canada pack is 103kg with their heaviest man in the tournament, Brandon Tennant, keeping the replacements bench warm underneath his 132kg frame. Meanwhile, the Young Sables average weight is 94kg.

Captain Mama is not frightened by the statistics as he leads his team mates to the Shevardeni Stadium this week. We now know how they play and the experience we had from last years competition will be of great help to us in seeking victory. Some of us are looking at making the best performance in this tournament as it will be our last appearance at the Junior competition and others are eager to prove themselves. It will all come together for a great show, said Mama.

Zimbabwe Under-20: Zeru Makomva, Tatenda Karuru, Murray Bryce-Rodgers, Takudzwa Jaravaza, Regis Mutangadura, Farai Jijita, Sean Joubert, Takudzwa Mandiwanza, Charles Jiji, Thomas Nelson, Dylan Coetzee, Kuda Chiwanza, Justin Coles, Corey van Rensburg. Simba Gonese, Ian Muza, Delroy Sibanda, Kuda Mudariki, Sean Linfield, Takura Tela, Marco Mama (captain), Graham Logan, Lungile Tshuma, Victor Mushoriwa, Marcus Nel. Coach: Brighton Chivandire, Assistant: Godwin Murambiwa.

Canada Under-20: Scott MacLeod, Graeme Mahar, Brandon Tennant, Casey Cavers, Andrew Cho, Jordon Power, Tyler Ardron, Cam Pierce, Johnny Humphries, Matt Kelly, Scott MacDonald, Evan Olmstead, Cam Stones, Dustin Dobravsky, Andrew Ferguson, Lucien Nel, Carlin Hamstra, Patrick Kay, Liam Underwood, Josh Blair, Michael Fuailefau, Jeff Hassler, Clayton Meeres, Dylan Mundy, Patrick Parfrey, Kurtis Appeldoorn.