Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Uruguay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (14) 20
THE Sables’ inability to last the full 80 minutes came back to haunt them yet again as Zimbabwe went down 20-15 to Uruguay in their penultimate World Rugby Nations Cup encounter at the Trailfinders Sports Ground yesterday.
Tries by Tinotenda Mavesere and Godfrey Muzanargwo, a penalty and a conversion gave Zimbabwe a narrow 15-14 lead at the break, but the Sables failed to add to their tally in an expansive second half.
The South Americans, on the other hand, kept the game close, as tries from Juan-Manuel Alonso and Juan Gonzalez, both converted by Icaro Amarillo, kept the game close in the first half.
Uruguay then seized the advantage in a one-sided second half as they pressed and added to their tally, with Amarillo adding two more penalties to give his team both the advantage and the win.
To their credit, the Sables put in a shift defensively to contain their South American opponents to two penalties.
They even rode their luck as a try by Alonso was ruled out after it was determined that the Uruguayans had knocked on the ball in the build-up.
Zimbabwe did press for the winner during the final five minutes of the game, but were only stalled by a defiant Uruguayan defence or shot themselves in the foot with needless turnovers.
Still, there were plenty of positives that Zimbabwe and their coach Piet Benade can take from the game.
For one, they were not totally blown away or outplayed like their last outing against Samoa, which ended in a 43-7 drubbing.
Tyrone Gombe put in quite the shift at scrumhalf as all eyes were on the youngster, coming in for skipper Hilton Mudariki.
Gombe finished with 37 successful passes, the second best from the match.
Only Uruguay’s Ignacio Rodriguez had more, with 57, while Prior, coming in off the bench in the second half, had 32.
Jason Robertson was another standout performer, operating at flyhalf, and had the most carries.
The United States-based international covered as much as 95 metres.
Maybe, there is hope for the half-back pairing of Gombe and Robertson.
Still, Zimbabwe’s inability to last the full 80 minutes remains a stumbling block.
It might be a matter of lack of conditioning or the team’s inability to manage the game.
Whatever the case, Benade needs to address that problem soon.
The loss leaves Zimbabwe stuck at the bottom of their pool with three points. They are now the only team in the 12-team tournament without a single win after five rounds, and with one to go.
Georgia were yesterday crowned champions after they thrashed Tonga 55-31.
They top the group with 24 points, with one round to go, while Portugal are seven adrift in second place.
Spain (13), Romania (11), Hong Kong China (6) and Zimbabwe (3) wrap up the log standings in Pool B.
Zimbabwe will this week travel to France for their final game of the competition.
They play Chile at the Stade Chanzy, Angouleme, this Saturday.
The match starts at 7pm (Zimbabwe time).
