Goshawks get tough lesson

Tinashe Kusema

Deputy Sports Editor

Zimbabwe Goshawks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  (7) 21

Western Province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   (35) 66

THERE were many lessons to be drawn from the Zimbabwe Goshawks’ humbling defeat to Western Province (WP) in an international rugby friendly encounter at Harare Sports Club’s Machinery Exchange Stadium on Friday night. The game once again showed the gulf in class between the Zimbabwean and South African rugby.

No sooner had the clash started than it turned out  to be a one-sided affair, with WP planting nine tries past Brendan Dawson’s men. WP winger Luke Burger was at the heart of the Goshawks’ destruction, planting four tries, while Lloyd Koster, flyhalf Jurie Mathee, Chris Hollis, Ben-Jason Dixon and Connor Evans added one each.

Inside centre Cornel Smit chipped in with five conversions, while Mathee added another.

In response, the Goshawks could only muster three tries off a Simba Siraha brace, while his replacement, scrumhalf Carlos Matematema, also touched down once.

A clearly dejected Dawson was at a loss for words after the game.

“It was obviously good for the guys, and all about learning,” said Dawson.

“They played a top team in South Africa, who were among the top sides in the Currie Cup and had a couple of seasoned veterans and capped Springboks, so what better way to learn and get some experience!

“From a performance point of view, we obviously have to play a lot better than we did tonight, improve on aspects like maintaining possession and making the few chances that come our way count.

“Among the few positives is that we can compete, as you saw that we managed to score a few amazing tries.

“We just have to learn to retain possession and be a bit more accurate.”

Hundreds of loyal fans braved the chilly Friday night weather and thronged the Machinery Exchange Stadium.

The bumper crowd did not waver in their support for the Goshawks throughout.

However, the moment and match belonged to former Springboks hooker Scarra Ntubeni, who captained the WP outfit and had the fans eating from the palm of his hand by the end of the match.

Ntubeni played one Test for the Springboks against Argentina at Loftus Versfeld in 2019, only for injuries to derail his career.

He has since become a consistent feature for WP during their Currie Cup season in which they finished fifth.

“It is always good coming to this side (Zimbabwe). Just coming out here to experience how good and welcoming Zimbabweans are has been nice,” said Ntubeni.

“Zimbabwean players are fighters; they gave as good as they got right up to the end and never backed down.

“Usually, a team that is down like that will want to call it a day, but Zimbabwe didn’t.”