Junior Sables out for blood

Tinashe Kusema

Deputy Sports Editor

IN the aftermath of the Zimbabwe Junior Sables’ 51-14 defeat to Uruguay in the World Junior Trophy rugby match on Thursday, coach Shaun De Souza has had to contend with a dressing room full of crestfallen players.

The defeat to the South Americans deflated their spirits, as it effectively knocked the team out of contention for promotion into the elite World Junior Championships.

Instead, the Junior Sables must now fight hard to avoid relegation when they clash against teams that will finish on the lower end of the Junior World Trophy Group B.

Scotland sit on top of Group A with 10 points, while Uruguay are second with nine points.

The United States (US) and Zimbabwe complete the standings with a point each.

The Junior Sables now face the US on Tuesday, with the winner going on to play in the fifth- and sixth-place play-off.

The loser of the encounter ends this year’s Junior World Trophy campaign with a seventh and eighth play-off fixture.

That match kicks off at 10am, local time.

De Souza gave his charges a day off on Friday, during which they had time to reflect.

“Two defeats in two matches was definitely not the plan,” said De Souza.

“In the first game against Scotland, I think we were shell-shocked in the first half, which we then got over in the second, but it was a little bit too late.

“Against Uruguay, I think our biggest undoing was complacency and this allowed them to come back at us and put points on the board.

“But, hey, that is how the cookie crumbles, and now we have to go back to the drawing board and prepare for the game against the USA.” De Souza did not hide the disappointment in camp.

“We are all obviously disappointed as this is our third defeat in like 14 matches.

“We are a team that is not used to losing . . . It is still surreal that we didn’t perform to our usual standards, and we are still trying to get to the bottom of what went wrong.

“We had all this planned out perfectly but the execution was lacking,” he said.

The execution was not the team’s only undoing as they also lacked discipline in critical phases of their game.

In both matches, the Junior Sables had three players yellow-carded and sent to the sin bin at different stages, leaving their team with a numerical disadvantage.

Against Scotland, the trio of hooker Bryan Chiang, eighthman Shingi Manyarara and winger Edward Sigauke received yellow cards, and, at one point, Zimbabwe played with 13 men.

Sigauke was at it again against Uruguay, together with Gerry Zisengwe and Leo Mutendi. However, the coach has since had a tough talk with the players.

He also promised a couple of changes in Tuesday’s match.

“We are at a big stage and everybody wants to be seen and be the main person.

“I think this is causing a little bit of a problem, and I need to nip that in the bud.

“Heading into the US game, I have nothing to lose and I think I am going to give some of the other kids a run,” said De Souza.

“The senior guys or regular starters have become too comfortable and have started to take things for granted. I want to give the younger, hungrier guys a run and try to get a better performance against the US come Tuesday.”

The team will not take their opponents lightly. “We have had an opportunity to watch them play twice now . . .

“I think they are a strong outfit; they have the skill set to move the ball and run into space. They have some speed on the outside and they also have a bit of set piece in them.

“They are a team not to be taken lightly as they had Scotland on the ropes for a bit during their match, and they did well to contain them for as long as they did.

“It will definitely not be an easy game and we will have to work hard to get the win,” he said.