adminvictories on the international scene in their respective tournaments.
The Sables were out in Kenya where they finished their international season on a good note with a close 26-21 win over Kenya to lift the Victoria Cup at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi.
Winger Gardner Nechironga scored two tries in the game – both coming in the first half – to become the tournament’s top try scorer while flyhalf Tichafara Makwanya managed 11 points from three penalties and a conversion.
Not to be outdone, the Young Sables started their title defence in the Junior Africa Cup – that also serves as a qualifier for the Junior World Rugby Trophy tournament – with a 16-8 win over Uganda at Prince Edward School.
For the Sables, this was the first rugby Test match to be played at the national stadium and it was Zimbabwe who were the better side as they came from behind to beat the hosts and set a new record in the process.
This win meant that the Sables have set a new winning streak record their best previously being in 1987 when they won four consecutive games but Saturday’s win saw them making it five in a row.
However, it is the Sables who are the happier of the two as they had to come from behind to finish their international season unbeaten.
First the Sables beat Uganda in the Africa Cup Pool B tournament in Kampala before dismissing Madagascar in the same tournament to gain promotion into the elite Pool A that plays World Cup Qualifiers.
Then Kenya came to Zimbabwe for the Victoria Cup and the Sables proved too strong for the East Africans, Uganda were here the following weekend and they were again no match to the Sables.
Brandon Dawson’s men then traveled to Kenya last week where they rounded up their campaign on the best note possible giving assistant coach Cyprian “Supa” Mandenge all the confidence.
“I think if we keep playing these internationals we will also keep getting better. We have been getting better with each game we played in the year and game time for the players is always important.
“We are also getting better because we used to lose a lot of players as they opted to play for other countries including South Africa but with their inclusion of the juniors for the Under-20 system their fellows also now want to play for the senior side.
“In this side we have the likes of TK (Tatenda Karuru), Jiji and Brian Makamure who just left school and this gives us the picture that juniors now want to play for Zimbabwe after school.
“The defeats we suffered last year were because we were just returning to the international scene with so many games after a long time but this year competition in the team has made things better,” said
Mandenge.
The Harare Sports Club coach added that the side now has to keep the momentum and keep focused and it his hope that Zimbabwe will qualify for the next edition of the World Cup having missed on the 2011 edition.
“The good thing about this side is that the players are hungry for success and we are now aiming at the 2015 World Cup because we need to be playing the big teams. Its time we get back to where we belong both in terms of play and on the IRB World Rankings because if we get our things right then I strongly believe that our second string side should be playing in the Victoria Cup because we have the talent.
“This means our senior side should be taking on mostly the South African provincial sides and this would lead us to be that great side we used to be or even better.
” All along we have been talking about turning the corner and now we have gone round it and we need to keep the seriousness we have,” said the Harare Sports Club coach.
Online Reporter