tawandamusarurwa
Deputy Sports Editor
Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (31) 55
Cote d’Ivoire. . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
Zimbabwe seem determined to retain the U-20 Barthés Trophy after they began their title defence in thunderous fashion at Nyayo Stadium, Nairobi, Kenya, yesterday.
The Junior Sables put up a clinical show that saw them post 55 unanswered points against Cote d’Ivoire.
So dominant were the Junior Sables that the encounter soon turned into a somewhat tune-up match for bigger assignments to come.
They had raced into a 31-0 lead at the break. Tries by Allan Mawunga, Tanaka Ndoro, Muzuva Gutu, Simbarashe Kanyangarara, Dion Khumalo, Benoni Nhekairo, Shadrick Mandaza, as well as a brace from Alex Nyamunda proved enough.
Vice captain Brendan Marume also chipped in with five conversions.
As the rains affected the other two matches on the day, coach Shaun de Souza was afforded some time to size up the competition.
Namibia remain the Junior Sables’ biggest threat.
“Our next focus now is the semi-final, which will be between Tunisia and Madagascar,” de Souza said.
“We want to watch their game, after which we will come up with a game plan.
“We remain hopeful that the rains will pass and don’t really affect us in our next match.
“If the rains do persist, we will still go into our semi-final game fully confident as we prepared for each and every scenario.”
Tunisia won their opening match against Madagascar 52-16.
De Souza was full of praise for his squad after put in quite the shift in both the defensive and offensive ends of the match.
“Generally, I don’t like to single out individual performances as this is a team sport, but I would like to commend our forwards who really did well in our scrums and lineouts.
“We were almost at a 100 percent lineout take, which is a huge improvement in that department.
“Our scrums were also good; we dominated our opposition from start to finish.
“I was just not happy with a few unforced errors, but they get a pass this time as the field was wet (from the morning dew) and it is raining here in Kenya,” he said.
Over the last few months, the team has been working on a number of technical aspects.
Zimbabwe did not, however, come out of the match totally unscathed.
Tanaka Ndoro was believed to have taken a knock on his ankle and is due to be assessed by the medical team later today.
“It is, after all, a contact sport, and we will most probably have a couple of players carrying knocks and niggles.
“We intend to have a recovery session later (last night), after which the team physiotherapist will have a look at the boys that will have taken a few knocks.
“We took out Tanaka Ndoro late in the first half after he took a knock to the ankle, and we are managing it.
“He is going through the processes and we will assess him tomorrow (today), after which a decision will have to be made,” he said.
But there is no doubting that yesterday’s result against Cote d’Ivoire was also the huge confidence booster that the national Under-20 side needed as they try to conquer Africa again.
Online Reporter