Sundaymail Editor
Deputy Sports Editor
OUTPLAYED, overpowered and outgunned!
That, in a nutshell, was the story of Zimbabwe Goshawks’ performance during their 48-0 Currie Cup First Division loss to SWD Eagles at Outeniqua Park in Western Cape, South Africa, on Friday.
The loss snapped their three-game winning streak.
A hat-trick of tries from scrumhalf Mitchell Carsten, a brace from winger Rosco Systers, touch-downs each by Andre Manuel, Nkosikhona Nofuma and prop Stefaan Grundlingh set the Eagles on the path for their comprehensive win.
It could have been worse had flyhalf Gene Willemse been accurate with his boot, as he converted only four of his team’s tries.
The closest the Goshawks came to getting points on the scoreboard was a penalty from skipper Hilton Mudariki, which came agonisingly close to sailing through just before the break, only to hit the crossbar.
A host of unforced errors and expulsions of prop Bornwell Gwinji and substitute Liam Larkan deep in the second half capped a bad day in the office for the Goshawks.
Mudariki said they had learnt some valuable lessons from their defeat by the Eagles.
“Yeah, it was a tough game for us.
“SWD Eagles are a quality side and there are things we can take away from the match,” Mudariki said.
He felt the main difference between a huge defeat and decent score was in “the many mistakes we made”.
“We started very well and I am very happy that we managed to control the game well for the first 15-20 minutes.
“We played a very high tempo game, something we always look to do, but a lot of mistakes were made during the second 20 minutes of that first half and that let us down.”
It was also a baptism of fire for Young Sables graduates and Barthes Cup winners Takudzwa Musingwini, Tavonga Ablant, Brendon Marume and Tawanda Matipano, who were handed their debuts by coach Brendan Dawson.
Musingwini failed to take control of the game like his opposite number Willemse, who ran the show at the flyhalf position, while the rest of the trio were virtually invisible for the larger part of the game.
However, Mudariki believes the young players can only learn from the experience.
Zimbabwe have a few days to regroup and reflect, after which they have a date against the Leopards (on Saturday).
Two more matches against Eastern Province and Valke should signal the end of their Currie Cup campaign, with focus then shifting to the Rugby Africa Cup in France in July.
The Africa Cup competition, which is being used as the final qualifier for next year’s Rugby World Cup in France, remains the bigger picture, and Mudariki has not lost focus of that.
“The Rugby Africa Cup is definitely the main goal and we are working hard towards that.
“I am very happy with the preparations so far as the coaches have mixed and matched players, tested new combinations and players.
“We have been able to get a lot of game time against quality opposition and we have been able to test guys to give the coaches a bit of a selection headache hopefully,” he said.
Attachments area
Online Reporter