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Tinashe Kusema Sunday Mail Deputy Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE’S Junior Sables will be hoping that a return to familiar territory will help close the gap between the opposition and them when Shaun De Souza’s boys begin their World Junior Rugby Trophy campaign in Kenya this weekend.
The second tier Under-20 rugby competition kicks off on Saturday when the Barthes trophy champions date Scotland.
After playing Scotland, Zimbabwe will meet the United States of America and Uruguay in the competition slated for July 15-30 at Nyayo stadium in Nairobi.
It is the third trip to Kenya in the space of 14 months for De Souza and his charges have made Nyayo their second home.
Skipper Panashe Zuze is one of the core players that has been on the team for all the trips and spoke candidly about his love for the country.
“Yeah, it is a big assignment and the boys realise that, but we are very excited to go to a tournament of this calibre and play against some of the best countries in the world at this level,” said Zuze.
He was speaking shortly before the Junior Sables flew to Kenya on Tuesday night.
“We are excited about what could be and we are very hopeful of playing well.
“This is our third trip there; I remember when we left the country last time, there were people calling Kenya our second home and, honestly, it does feel like that.
“The team is very comfortable in Kenya, and it is always good to go back to a place you are very familiar with.
“We know everything we need to know about the country and venue, we know what the weather and conditions are like there, the fields and the people.
“That could be an advantage for us, and I know a lot of the Kenyan people will be supporting us and Kenya, of course, we are both the only African representatives in the competition,” he said.
Eight teams are expected to converge at Nyayo and slug it out for the sole ticket to advance to the World Rugby Under-20 Championship.
The eight teams -Scotland, Uruguay, USA, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Spain, Samoa, Hong Kong- have been placed into two groups of four teams with each team playing three games.
The top teams from each group will then meet in the final with the winner gaining promotion into the more glamourous World Rugby Under-20 Championship.
While they may have dominated in the Barthes trophy, the Junior Sables know that the World Junior Trophy is a much tougher proposition.
And that their opening assignment is against a Scotland outfit, fresh from being relegated from the Under-20 Championship, underscores the quality of the opposition they would now have to grapple with.
Scotland have also had better preparations as they are coming from facing the global giants in the Six-Nation campaign.
However, Zuze believes that his troops play better as the underdogs and views the upcoming match-up as a David and Goliath scenario.
“We are excited to play Scotland, these opportunities only come once in a lifetime as we don’t really get games to play against a team that takes part in the Six-Nations (Under-20 level or not),
“I have spoken to the boys and told them that David beat Goliath.
“We are the underdogs in this tournament, but we are not moved by the task that lies ahead.
“Just like in that story, David was the underdog in that fight but he still managed to prosper and come out with a victory. “That is the mentality we will walk into the game with,” he said.
Zuze added that the Junior Sables are also ready to deal with the pressure that comes with playing at this level of the game.
Online Reporter