Barbarians expected today

of matches against local sides starting with a match against the Harare Lions Under-19 at Prince Edward School tomorrow.
Having last toured Zimbabwe in 1998, the British junior side is expected to land at lunch time today, a little over a day before they take on the Harare schools side in their opening game of the tour.
The side is set to take on four teams in Zimbabwe with their first game on tomorrow, where they will take on Brighton Chivandire’s provincial side Harare Lions at Prince Edward School at 4pm.
Two days later they will be in Lomagundi where they are set to take on a Districts side that comprises of schools from Mashonaland East and Mashonaland West provinces.
Those matches should serve as a warm-up for their showdown with the Zimbabwe Under-19 side at St John’s College on April 13.
The tourists will then take on the Goshawks Schools at the same venue two days later.
Harare Lions have stuck to the squad they called up for tomorrow’s game with Sean Ramsey and Tawanda Mwanza being the only players dropped from the side released by assistant coach Godwin Murambiwa last week.
St Johns’ College’s centre Preston Bryant has been named as the captain.
The squad also includes Joshua Smallbones, swimming sensation Mathew Lawson, Daniel Rorke, Luke Masasire, Tapiwa Tsomondo, Dylan Coetzee and Kudzai Zhou.
The same players will also be part of the Goshawks outfit.
The Baarbas’ sporting challenge will start with games against similarly skilled county level teams and will later progress to them testing their abilities against the might of the Zimbabwe Under-19 World Cup side.
In fact Chivandire’s Under-19 boys are set to be the biggest beneficiaries of the British tour.
Most of the players in the Under-19 side are using this game to test their mettle and readiness for the Junior World Rugby Trophy set for Georgia next month and this will be one perfect platform to measure their strength.
However, the JWRT is an Under-20 tournament and this means some of the players who will travel to Georgia will play against the British.
Murambiwa said they would only be using the 18-year-olds in this game due to the age of the touring side who are also 18.
The former Sables and Old Hararians coach said his side does not know what to expect in the first game as they have not played such a side in more than a decade but this, however, has not deterred the provincial side from putting all they have in the build-up to tomorrow’s game.
“We honestly do not know what to expect from this side we might win or lose the game can go anyway but we are hoping to get some stats when they arrive tomorrow,” said Murambiwa.
Murambiwa is also hopeful of good weather and reckoned that if it rains it could work as an advantage to the tourists who are used to playing in rainy conditions.
“We are hoping that it does not rain because that will suit the British but the first game could be difficult for them especially because they will also be trying to acclimatise and so for fair weather conditions we have set the game for 4pm.
“We have been training all week long and everything has been going on well and the boys are looking okay we have our final training session this (yesterday) evening tomorrow we will not train but the players will have a captain’s run,” said Murambiwa.
The captains’ run is traditionally held 24 hours prior to kick-off and this means the Harare schools provincial side will have their run today at 4pm.
However, Murambiwa added that they might face a number of difficulties in the opening game but he has no doubts over beating the British when the Under-19 side takes to the field next Wednesday at St John’s College.
Zimbabwe Squads:
Under-19: I. Muza, M. Kadirire, J. Swallows, R. Surtees, J. Zulu, M. Zengeya, M. Lawson, K. Makanza, T. Tsomondo, H. Mudariki, F. Jijita, C. Van Rensberg, R. Zee, D. Coetzee, J. Peiters, P. Bryant, S. Zeederburg, D. Zimbudzana, M. Muhambi, J. Coles, M. Nel, J. Butchart.
Goshawks Schools: Benjamin Grainger, Oliver Chadwick, Travis Simpson, Kevin Merrington, Ulrich Kontchou, Wilson Seremani, James Forrester, Daniel Rorke, Joshua Smallbones, Andrew Wilkinson (St Johns College), Leroy Sibanda, Devon Gibbons, Robert Sargeant (Falcon College), Jack Butchart (capt), Tatenda Zinyemba, Rees Surtees, Junior Hlahla (St George’s College), Lenience Tambwera, Etai Nyakabaza, Antipas Kamkwindo (Churchill), Luke Masisire, Kudzai Zhou (Prince Edward), Takudzwa Chieza (Kyle College).
Harare Lions Schools: M. Kadirire, R. Surtees, J. Smallbones, M. Lawson, D. Rorke, J. Bruce, T. Tsomondo, D. Coetzee, L. Masasire, W. Seremani, P. Bryant (captain), K. Zhou, T. Simpson, T. Ndaba, J. Butchart, M. Law, T. Musakanda.