Griquas test for Junior Lady Sables

THE Junior Lady Sables will be in action again today for their second match at the on-going Craven Week in South Africa where they will be up against Griquas at the Jeppe Boys High School in Johannesburg. Zimbabwe’s Under-18 side lost their opening match of the Craven Week against Western Province on Monday and will be hoping to bounce back in today’s encounter.

Speaking to Zimpapers Sports Hub from their base in South Africa, team manager and wellness therapist, Nyarai Bakasa said she has faith that the team will put in a good fight in today’s game and the other that will follow. Bakasa said playing in the Craven Week in South Africa provides the country’s next generation of rugby stars the opportunity to take their game to the next level, facing different opposition. She said the experience they gain from such events will help them grow into future national team players.

Apart from gaining experience that will, in turn, help them grow as players, Bakasa believes that the Craven Week can open doors for many of the rising stars. “I’m hoping the girls will put up a good show in their coming games, although we lost our first game to Western Province, we still have two more games to look forward to. Playing in South Africa in the Craven Week is very crucial as it gives them the opportunity to experience taking rugby to the next level as they then feed into the senior Sables team, it gives them a feel of how it is to be a national team player for the country.

“Another one big opportunity is that they also get the opportunity to be scouted by universities and are offered scholarships to pursue their studies, we have girls who got scholarships at Stellenbosch University through rugby,” she said. From what she has seen so far with the team, Bakasa is impressed with the quality of rugby that has been on display. She believes that her squad has several decisions to make regarding their rugby careers.

“The future is bright for those who would like to continue within the rugby profession, as they also have other opportunities outside the playing field, some have become coaches for schools, communities helping remove the girl child from the streets and early child marriages, some girls have trained to be referees of the game, being motivated by one of our female referees who is now in the world list of referees,” said Bakasa.

Some of the players who have done well for the team include Nokutenda Shoriwa, Panashe Gomo, Gabriella Chawatama and Ashely Wasili whom their manager said have already caught the eyes of coaches from South Africa. She said they are hoping to, in the future, have provincial matches and have the national team play the provincial select, which will allow them to create a database of national players from all provinces, who will continue to feed into the national teams for both junior Sables and the seniors.

Today’s match is penciled to start at 1pm. —@brandon_malvin