Archer Clothing Rugby on a two-week break

THE 2024 Bulawayo Metropolitan Rugby Football Board (BMRFB) Archer Clothing Rugby League has taken a two-week mid-season break following the completion of the first half of the league campaign on the weekend of June 15.

The teams will take a breather and return to action on July 6.

Old Miltonians (OMs) went into the mid-season break with a comfortable four-point lead over second placed defending champions Matabeleland Warriors.

BMRFB vice chairperson, Carrington Busili confirmed the break, saying that it’s good for teams to take a breather and re-group as they prepare for a more demanding second half of the campaign.

“There won’t be any games for the upcoming two weekends (past Saturday and the next weekend) as teams go on a breather to try and give players some time to recuperate. It’s good for the teams to take a breather and not play continuously. Sports science teaches us that physical contact sports should not be played on a continuous basis without breaking, so we are rewarding players and teams the chance to re-group.

“We are grateful for the support that we have received so far and we hope that come July 6, the league will continue and get even better. It has been an entertaining first half of the season and we are looking forward to an equally enthralling second half of our league,” said Busili.

As OMs and Warriors keep up the heat at the top of the standings, teams on the other end of the table are hoping for a better outing come July 6.

Highlanders – sitting in third place and 11 points adrift of log leaders, finished the first half on a high with a victory over Panthers and their gaffer, Silethokuhle Slater Ndlovu is hopeful that will be motivated going forward.

He said they will be looking at piling pressure on the leading pack but have their sights on a strong finish and building a formidable side for next season. They are not looking too far ahead of themselves.

“Last season, Highlanders lost home and away to Panthers so it was quite an achievement to get one over them but obviously we need to train hard and climb up the ladder to challenge the top two. We are hoping to build a good team for next season but for the ongoing season, we just want to make ourselves proud, we are not promising to take the world by storm.

“This break came at the right time as it will help give some injured players time to recover, however, on the other hand some players are likely not to come for training, when there are no games they keep giving excuses. But, I hope to see guys coming in numbers for training sessions so that we can do all our moves and fitness as a team,” said Ndlovu.

Anchoring the log standings is Bulldogs, however, their coach Newman Hlatshwayo is hopeful that fortunes will change when matches resume.

“For the second half, I hope that the team becomes consistent, which is the one thing we lacked during the first half of the league. We played well against Highlanders in our first game then we dropped the ball the following week.

This break will give our players time to recover, in our last two games before the break, we had some of our senior players back so we are expecting a fully fit squad,” said Hlatshwayo.

For OMs, the two-week break should not put them off route as they have their eyes set on the big prize.

“We need to stick to the process. We have to keep working on getting better,” said OMs head Coach, Victor Chiwara.

The Warriors head coach, Aubrey Dube believes that the break will allow them to go back to the drawing board and try to fix the mistakes they made.

Dube added that there will be no room for mistakes come the second half of the league if they are to defend their title.

“We are champions and it’s how we get up from here. We have to get up and rise, we have made it hard for ourselves so that means when we come out, we need to win every game that we play to win this league,” said Dube.

OMs are leading the pack with 19 points from four straight wins while Warriors are in second place with 15 points from three wins and one defeat. In third place, Highlanders are on eight points having won two and lost two and are followed by Panthers who have six points, having won one and lost three. Anchoring the league is Bulldogs with just a point. Bulldogs are the only side yet to taste victory with their solitary point coming as a bonus one.

In the women’s league, Warriors Ladies go into the break sitting comfortably at the top with 20 points from four straight wins followed by Highlanders Ladies who have just seven points from three matches. Highlanders Ladies played three matches, won one, drew one and lost one. In third place there is Panthers Ladies with two points. Plumtree Queens and ZRP Lions have zero points each.

In Division One, Greyhounds will be hoping to continue with their good form that saw them win their two matches, getting an edge over Plumtree Buffaloes and ZRP Lions. They are at the top with 10 points while the rest of the teams are on zero.

The first half of the league attracted good numbers in spectators and fans have been encouraged to continue supporting the sport as teams prepare for the second half. —@brandon_malvin