Chronicle Editor
THE Zimbabwe Under-20 women’s rugby team tried to salvage some pride in their 10-67 loss to South Africa Under-20 women in the second and final match of their bilateral series at Prince Edward School in Harare.
The victory earned South Africa a 2-0 series win following a flawless 43-0 victory in the first match on Wednesday.
The visitors opened the scoring with an early try and were relentless in their resolve.
Zimbabwe put up a better fight, showing signs of brilliance with the ball and an aggressive defence.
Their structures, however, did not hold against South Africa despite scoring their only try in the series a few minutes before the halftime break to trail 10-34.
The second half was a freefall of tries for the visitors, as South Africa were clinical in their execution.
Victorious captain Tyler-Jane Coleman was ecstatic with the win.
“We all enjoyed it, we fixed all the stuff we needed to work on from the first match and we said today we are giving it our all and putting our bodies on the line.
“Yes Zimbabwe came at us a bit more physical, but we came back 100 percent stronger,” said Tyler-Jane Coleman.
Zimbabwe head coach Nsikelelo Sibanda lamented his charges’ costly mistakes.
“I think we made a lot of errors and they scored off our errors. Each time you make an error at this level you get punished and they did that,” said Sibanda.
The bilateral series was a first for both nations at Under-20 level.
Both sides will be looking for more game time and more competitive fixtures in the near future.
“Next for us we carry on training; we have an inter-provincial league and we have a tournament coming up for the senior team. Some of us will be selected to come up and play there so training is key after this,” said Tyler-Jane Coleman.
Zimbabwe learnt crucial lessons in their loss to the visiting South Africans.
“The plan is to promote some of these girls to the seniors.
We are preparing for the World Cup so the next thing is for the girls to travel to South Africa and play against this team again,” said Sibanda. — ZRU
Online Reporter