Sables coach happy with charges

Emirates, it appeared Dawson’s lack of technical awareness were exposed, especially in the first two games.
In both games, the Sables commanded leads but gave away the advantage in the second half, stuck with the same game plan throughout the game even when his rivals’ style of play altered.

And they were punished for the mistakes made by both the players and the coaches’ decisions.
The former Zimbabwe XVs forward yesterday told The Herald that he was “pleased with the exceptional work” done by most of the players in the side adding that he achieved what he wanted with the tour.

“We achieved what we wanted to and that was to test the new players that we had in the side and that is why most of the players were around 22 years of age because I also wanted to see how they performed under pressure.

“It was all about throwing them in the deep end and now we know how they perform in such conditions and they know what it means playing Test rugby and that is what it was all about.

“We might have lost two games and won one but I am pleased with the exceptional work done by most of the players including Nic Winwood and Tommy (Nelson) who were playing in the side for the first time,” said Dawson.
The coach feels his boys’ performance was decent.

“The boys tried their level best, but with a youthful backline averaging 22 year old I guess that was a decent performance for an inexperienced side playing against higher raked sides.

“We can not keep on chopping and changing the team but the fact that some of the players had travelled with the Cheetahs, and that we wanted to have a look at more players before the qualifiers, we saw it necessary to make these changes.

“There are so may players out there be it oversees or here that want to play for the Sables, so we need to give them a platform where they can prove their worth and for us, also, to go into the big tournaments knowing that we got the best players for Zimbabwe is important.”

Nelson and Winwood both flew straight to Dubai without training with the Sables despite the fact that they were going to earn their first caps for the national side while experienced flanker Shingi Mpofu flew to Dubai from his Scotland base.

“It was a gamble, there was need to give them a chance and I am happy they played well for us because there is need to pick the best team going into the Africa Cup tournament next winter so we are trying to test the new players, so that we will keep the best for the tournament.

“And as a result there are some players that we were not pleased with, some did exceptionally well in this campaign, those were the best available players to us but with about three Cheetahs players would have made the difference.”