adminZimbabwe and Namibia earning the right to represent the continent at the Under-20 Junior World Rugby Trophy tournament next year.
The game kicks off at 3.30 pm after a series of other positional playoffs at Prince Edward school. This is a do-or-die encounter for the Young Sables – in a match pregnant with history and rivalry – as they need at least a draw if they are to take part in the world tournament in May next year.
Zimbabwe have qualified for the tournament over the past two years, beating Namibia twice in a row to take part in the JWRT in Russia last year and in Georgia this year. And the Young Sables are hoping to finish the tournament on a high and make it three in a row but this time in front of their home crowd.
Over the past five years Zimbabwe and Namibia have been dominating the junior tournament and this year both sides are yet to lose, setting a perfect decider. Namibia edged Tunisia 9-8 in a close match on day one of the tournament and the Young Sables overpowered Uganda 16-8.
The Young Sables went on to thrash Tunisia 34-0 in their second game of the tournament while Namibia overcame Uganda 22-12 on Wednesday. Flanker Farai “Jigga” Jijita – who has become a hit in this tournament after he scored a hat trick of tries against Tunisia – believes the game will not be easy.
“We have been working hard all week long because we know we have to give our best in the tournament and being at home we have to do the best we can so that we do not disappoint. “I am sure the win against Tunisia was a very welcome win and it came just at the right time to give confidence to the boys and we have been concentrating on our side so that we are a perfect team,” said Jijita.
The former Prince Edward schoolboy is one of the most experienced players in the team as he was part of the side that won the Africa Cup last year in Cote d’Ivoire before making it for the Georgia leg of the JWRT last May.
Other players that were with the JWRT side include flyhalf and captain Sean Linfield, props Delroy Sibanda and Murray Bryce-Rodgers, lock Graham Logan, fullback Marcus Nel and Shane Joubert.
And to make their side stronger, Zimbabwe also included some players who recently took part at the Craven Week rugby festival in South Africa. Centre Preston Bryant has shown signs of reliability while eighth man
Tapiwa “Homley” Tsomondo has developed to be a more responsible player among the lose forwards.
Coach Brighton Chivandire is not taking this the Namibians lightly as he is aware of the upsets his opponents are capable of causing.
“They are a strong side they got themselves back together in the second half to beat Uganda and that just goes on to show what they are capable of doing.
“But we cannot afford to lay back and watch because when we got into this tournament we had set targets for ourselves and we have to achieve our goals.
“A defeat to Namibia would mean that we would not have achieved our set goals,” said the former Sables coach. The tournament adopted a different structure this year that will see the winners of Pool A going on to represent Africa at the JWRT while the bottom placed team in the pool will be demoted to Pool B. This means the winner of Pool B will be promoted into Pool A – which is the JWRT qualifying group in the new format.
In the previous years all the teams would have a chance to fight for the sole JWRT ticket. But, the Young Sables are not worried about the format of the annual event as they are focussed on retaining their African title at the end of the 70 minutes.
However, Zimbabwe manager Tungamiri Mashungu believes his team has the potential to win.
“We need to learn to play the whole 70 minutes because if you look at the way we played against Tunisia we only came back in the second half
“In the first half we only managed one try and that was it. But in the second half we scored 29 points which shows the potential we have if we play the full game,” added Mashungu.
Zimbabwe Starting XV
Backs: J. Forrester, M. Muhambi, S. Linfield, P. Bryant, J. Coles, L. Tambwera, R. Sargeant.
Forwards: D. Sibanda, M. Mandioma, J. Smallbones, G. Logan, M. Sinclair, F. Jijita, Chigumbura, T. Tsomondo.
Today’s Fixtures
Madagascar v Zambia (11am), Tunisia v Uganda (12.30pm), Morocco v Kenya (2pm), Zimbabwe v Namibia (3.30pm).
Online Reporter