Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE Old Georgians Under-20 rugby team find themselves in unfamiliar territory, and coach Tatenda Museba wouldn’t want to have it any other way.
OGs head into this weekend’s Harare Under-20 final against Old Hararians as underdogs, a tag that the team has wrestled and accepted all season.
“Yeah, we didn’t have the best of starts to the season,” said Museba.
“However, Old Georgians is a big institution and it was just a matter of time before we returned to the final,” he said.
For the Old Georgians gaffer, getting his team to gel was the biggest obstacle and he believes that alone played a huge part to their slow start to the season.
The 2023 champions began the season with two successive defeats to league favourites Pitbulls (59-20) and the Zambezi Steelers (41-17).
However, once they got their groove, they went on a good run and just about made the cut-off for the play-off places.
While favourites Pitbulls and Zambezi Steelers finished on top with 22 and 21 points, respectively, this weekend’s finalist Old Hararians and OGs took the third and fourth places with 17 and 10 points.
“What you need to understand is that the composition of my team is a bit different from the rest of the league,” he said.
“While teams like OH, Pitbulls and Steelers get their players primarily from schools like Prince Edward, Churchill and Lomagandi and then St George’s, my players come from all over and, as such, it took some time for then to gel.
“However, once we started to gel, we managed turn things around.
“Another factor is that we were underdogs for most of the season and as such pretty much played like.
“We had nothing to lose and everything to gain and that worked for us,” he said.
This weekend’s finalists, OGs and OH, pulled off the shock results of the semi-finals as they both dispatched favourites Pitbulls and Steelers to earn the right to fight for the title this weekend.
The Harare Under-20 Rugby League wraps up what has been a rather entertaining season when they hold their finals at Old Hararians Sports Club this Saturday.
Eight matches are on the programme with OGs and OH fighting it out for the men’s title while FS Raiders and Zimbiru Titans slug it out in the women’s final.
The Zambezi Steelers and Pitbulls will also clash for the third- and fourth-place play-off match, while the SDRA24 meet Pitbulls on the Under-19 final.
“Preparations have been good with the only obstacles being, maybe, the rains,” said Museba.
“However, that is not an excuse as every team has been affected and we intend to bring our A-game,” he said.
Old Hararians coach, Shelton Chiuswa appears to be also confident.
“Our preparations have been good,” he said.
“We have been one of the more consistent teams of the league, taking it one game at a time and that won’t change going into the final.
“Old Hararians have an identity to maintain, one of good running rugby and tight defence.
“That has served us well this season and we don’t intend to change a thing,” he said.
Old Hararians go into the final as favourites, something Chiuswa has pretty much played down.
“We have been playing a final from the first game of the season, so nothing changes as it pertains to how we prepare for Old Georgians.
“A few players of ours are racing against time to be fit for the final but the good thing is that we have plenty of depth.
“While we kept the core of our team intact for most of the season, we rotated a few positions and players, so every-one has been given a run and is ready.”
This weekend’s match is the first-time meeting of these two teams in the final and should be a rather entertaining encounter.
