dyton mupawaenda
Grace Chingoma-Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe national Under-20 rugby team, the Junior Sables, returned home from Kenya yesterday after lifting the Barthes Trophy to arrive to a heroes welcome as they were cheered on by their family members and supporters at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
The arrival terminal came to a standstill as players were feted with supporters breaking into song and dance.
The Junior Sables retained the trophy which they also won last year in Kenya.
On Sunday, the Zimbabwean team, who also qualified for the Junior World Trophy, beat the hosts Kenya 28–7 in the final at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi.
The junior team also delivered the promise they made to President Mnangagwa when he hosted them at State House last month, a few days before their departure.
President Mnangagwa has since congratulated the team after their latest victory in Nairobi on Sunday. The President posted on his Twitter handle: “Congratulations to our Junior Sables U20s Rugby Team who retained the Barthés Trophy in a huge 28-7 win at the Nyayo International Stadium in Kenya this afternoon (Sunday),” read the tweet.
At the State House, the President committed to assist the team which had a combined budget of US$150 000 for their preparations for the Barthes Trophy as well as the World Trophy which will run from July 15 to July 30 in Kenya.
Upon their arrival at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport yesterday, the Junior Sables coach Shaun De Souza said it was a dream come true for him to guide the team to the Barthes Trophy victory for two consecutive years.
“The double was always my dream, so it was always my dream. When we first went into this event we went to learn and we actually had a plan to win it in the second year, winning the first year was a bonus, but winning this year was special.
“The team did work hard on our arrival in Kenya. We did tell them that we are ready for it and we are bringing it home,” said De Souza.
The coach said his charges managed to maintain their composure playing against the hosts’ home crowd. The team also had to manage the expulsion of Muzuva Gutu early in the second half.
“We knew playing against the home team was going to be tough. We could see the crowds draw in as the week went by. We only tried to keep to our game plan and try to gain the support to come to our side.
“It was always part of the plan. We kept managing the weather conditions for every game we played. We had weather changes, and the final was a bit heavier so it was difficult for both teams. But we managed, a lot of calls went against us, we will review the videos and see where we went wrong and correct it,” he said.
De Souza said they will cut the celebrations short after one week to start preparing for the World Rugby Under-20 Trophy tournament which is around the corner.
Zimbabwe are in Pool A alongside Scotland, Uruguay and Canada/USA. Pool B has Spain, Samoa, Kenya and Hong Kong China.
The Junior Sables will take on Scotland in the opening game before the hosts Kenya take on Samoa in a late kick-off on July 15 at Nyayo Stadium.
Zimbabwe will then take on Uruguay on July 20 and then play the winner between Canada and USA on July 25. The final will be played on July 30.
The World Rugby Under-20 Trophy is the second level of the World Rugby tournament structure for Under-20 national sides in which champions qualify for the top-tier competition, World Rugby Under-20 Championship 2024.
“Qualifying for the Junior World trophy in the semi-finals by Kenya beating Namibia sort of gave us ease. It’s a tough pool but we have set our mark already and we just need to maintain it.
“We will take a week’s break and then we will regroup, call our guys in academy set up and in June the guys in the United States of America and the United Kingdom will come back and join the camp and we basically restart from there,’’ said De Souza.
Online Reporter