daniel chigunwe
Takudzwa Chitsiga Sports Reporter
THE 2021 Harare Rugby League Under-21 Championships will get underway this morning with several matches lined up for round one at Belgravia Sports Club.
The tournament will see defending champions Pitbulls taking on old rivals, Mbare Select, in the opening match at 9am.
Pitbulls won the league, two years ago, before the sport was put to on halt, because of Covid-19.
The Churchill High School-based side will be expected to unleash other upcoming players, who can go on to make it, on the big stage.
Morisio Jaya, of Pitbulls, said they were looking forward to a successful tournament.
“As a development side, we are geared up for the new season and we will use this opportunity to assess some youngsters, who did not get the chance, in the previous events.
‘’We are starting on a fresh page, as most of our players have since graduated, into the senior ranks.
“We have lost Mathew Owuru, who is now in college in the United States, and has since represented the Canada Sevens side and Tinotenda Mavesere, who is now with the Sharks, in South Africa.
“There are some promising talents, like Nigel Tinarwo and Shadreck Mandaza, who I expect to leave a mark,” said Jaya.
Harare Rugby League have four groups – A, B, C and D – where the teams will play in a round-robin format in the group stages, which will culminate in the semi-finals, and later the final.
Fixtures
Pitbulls v Mbare Select; Mabvuku v XP Horns; Harare Sports Club v University of Zimbabwe; OH v Zimbiru, FS Raiderrs v OGs; Police Defenders v Northern Chiefs; Zimbiru v FS Raiders; Harare Sports Club; Pitbulls v Mabvuku; Mbare Select v XP Horns; HSC v Zimbiru; OH v UZ; OGs v Northern Chiefs; Police Defenders v FS Raiders; Zimbiru v Police Defenders; HSC v FS Raiders; Pitbulls v XP Horns; Mbare Select v Mabvuku; HSC v OH; UZ v Zimbiru; OGs v Police Defenders; Northern Chiefs v FS Raiders; Zimbiru v HSC; Police Defenders v FS Raiders.
Online Reporter