Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema, Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE heat, the cold and everything in between have greeted the Zimbabwe Under 20 team in the United Arab Emirates, where temperatures have swung from a baking 32 degrees Celsius to a chilly 15.
It showed in their opening outing at the World Schools Festival Rugby Cup, where the Junior Sables went down 22-12 to TSC in a match that tested both body and mind.
Head coach Shaun De Souza has no interest in leaning on conditions as an excuse. For him, this is exactly why the team made the trip.
“The trip has been good, but the boys have been having a little trouble acclimatising,” said De Souza.
“We have had some high temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius and lows of maybe 15, so it’s been a challenge.
“However, these are the things that we came here for: getting out of our comfort zone and playing in different conditions.
“We also had a short turnaround between our arrival here and our first game and I think that it reflected in both the score and performance,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s loss to English side TSC VX on Sunday was not the start De Souza had in mind, but he remains confident the experience will pay off.
There is no time to dwell, with seven more matches still to come and a demanding double header against South Africa’s powerhouse school, Paul Roos Gimnasium, leading the way.
The Junior Sables were due to face Paul Roos Gimnasium’s second team late last night before taking on their first team this afternoon.
“We do have a short turnaround between matches; then again, that is the beauty of this tournament.
“It helps you work under pressure and we will come out even better from the experience.
“We have two games against Roos Gimnasium after which we will play against a team from Uganda and then Fiji.
“So, there is still a lot of rugby to be played,” he said.
Looking back at the opening defeat, De Souza was clear on where it slipped away.
“As it pertains to the loss, De Souza said, “we took too long to settle and never really recovered.
“Yeah, we took an early lead but then allowed them to come back at us and never really recovered from that.
“The team committed way too many unforced errors, something we have been working on since that match, which cost us.
“Lesson learnt,” he said.
Attention now turns to Paul Roos Gimnasium, widely regarded as the benchmark of school rugby in South Africa.
“We can’t afford to make the same mistakes again,” he said.
“We have been working hard on our discipline, trying to manage or reduce infringement and our unforced error count.
“It only gets tougher going forward, starting with the back to back ties against Roos Gimnasium one and two.
“They are currently ranked as the number one rugby school in South Africa and our games against their first and second teams should be very entertaining,” said the Junior Sables gaffer.
Zimbabwe are competing in the main rugby section of the World Schools Festival and have sent two sides, the Junior Sables and a High Performance team.
Eight teams are involved in the competition, including Nasinu Secondary School of Fiji, Uganda Schools Select, TSC, Saint Kentigern College of New Zealand, Paul Roos Gimnasium and Paul Roos Gimnasium 2 of South Africa, the Junior Sables, and Zimbabwe High Performance.
