The Zimbabweans now need a win against Namibia Wednesday to put themselves in a far much stronger position and hope that Kenya who beat Namibia 29-22 in their opening match lose to Madagascar.
An enthusiastic crowd of 35 000 people including the vice preside of the IRB Oregon Hoskins of South Africa saw the Zimbabwean completely dominate the game with a classic display of running rugby and some exciting individual play from Lambert Groenwald, Schalk Ferreira, and captain Daniel Hondo.
And with only 22 minutes of the game gone by, the Zimbabweans were 22-0 up with tries from Lambert Groenwald, Jack Leitao, and Rian O’Neal, which were complimented by two penalty conversions from South Africa based Guy Cronje. When Cronje added another conversion following O’Neal’s try, the world appeared to crumble for the hosts.
But that was not to be as the Zimbabwean relaxed a bit and allowed Madagascar to claw back into the game, and by halftime, the hosts had reduced The Sables’lead to only seven points setting the stage for a tense second half.
However, Brendan Dawson’s pep talk at halftime did the trick for Zimbabwe as tries from Leitao, Schalk Ferreira, Tafadzwa Chitongwindo, and Stephen Hunduza, coupled once again by conversions from Cronje saw Zimbabwe race to a 50-22 and the huge crowd began to leave the field of play.
When Leitao completed his second try late in the second and Lanience Tambwera converted, the game was all but over for Madagascar as the final score stood at 57-22.
The winners of the four team Africa tournament that ends on July 6 will join world champions New Zealand, Argentina, Tonga, and Georgia in Pool C at the World Cup in England.
Post published in: Rugby