adminHarare Bureau
THE Sables were left to fight another day when they blew a golden opportunity to earn an automatic rugby World Cup ticket to England next year despite a three try 28-10 win over Kenya in Madagascar yesterday.
This means the Sables finished second to Namibia in the World Cup qualifier competition and will be travelling to Siberia in August for a date against Russia in the first round of the play offs where the winner of this game will go on to face the winner of the game between Uruguay and Hong Kong on a home and away basis for the remaining World Cup ticket.
A 28-10 win over Kenya would have sufficed had Namibia won by less than 53 points but they managed an 89-10 win over Madagascar meaning that the Sables finished second and will have to take the longer route to the world stage.
Zimbabwe needed a bonus point victory against Kenya if they were to automatically make it for England, but they failed to get the fourth try that would have ensured their ticket to England next year.
Costly was the decision by Sables to go for posts when they got a penalty inside the 14-man Kenya half towards the end of the game, but instead of going for touch, fly-half Guy Cronje went for the posts as had been directed by the technical team.
Director of rugby Liam Middleton called for the three-pointer yet there was a huge chance for the Sables to get a five pointer as they had dominated the Kenya forwards and had also frustrated their backline, but it was not to be.
Sables coach Brendan Dawson in a post-match interview, however, admitted that going for the posts was a mistake.
“There was a bit of confusion with what was happening (as Cronje was seeking medical attention lying on the ground) but I wanted the boys to go for touch,” said the former Sables captain.
This makes it Namibia’s fifth straight qualification for the World Cup as Zimbabwe are still in the battle to make their third appearance, their first since 1991 but they still have Russia and possibly Uruguay or Hong Kong to clear.
The Sables got their points through tries from centre Riaan O’Neil, scrummy Hilton Mudariki and Cronje who also added two conversions and three penalties taking his contribution to 18 points while Kenya replied through a centre Humphrey Khayange try and fly-half Lavin Asego’s penalty and conversion.
Zimbabwe drew first blood and it was in the fifth minute that they were awarded a penalty as Kenya were punished for holding onto the ball in a ruck situation with Cronje nailing it but it only took another six minutes for Kenya to level the terms through an Asego place kick.
Cronje gave Zimbabwe the lead once again in the 16th minute with another spot kick that he had no problems with and Zimbabwe were 6-3 ahead following a turn-over off a Kenya scrum where they forced the East Africans to make mistakes.
However, with just under 10 minutes to go before the break, Kenya got the first touchdown of the game when Khayange found a gap in the Zimbabwe backline’s defence, sidestepping fullback Tangai Nemadire who was left clutching thin air for a try that was converted again by Asego giving Kenya a 10-6 lead.
It seemed the two sides would go into the break with Kenya enjoying a slight lead over Zimbabwe but O’Niell had finally had an answer for Zimbabwe who had started asking the Kenyan defence a lot of questions.
His eye for the gap was just what Zimbabwe needed to get back into the game thanks to a move that was orchestrated by eighth-man Lambert Groenewald who found Cronje off the base of the scrum before he offloaded to O’Neill with Cronje adding the bonus points.
Who would have thought that this was the try that changed the game for the Sables, as they came back a more formidable side in the second half restricting Kenya from adding any more points while they went on to score another 15 points.
No doubt loose head prop Denford “Zim One” Mutamangira put up one of his best – if not the best – performances in the green and white hooped jersey, commanding the front row very well and winning almost all the balls at contact.
And for sure Mutamangira lived up to his nick-name where he proved to be Zimbabwe’s number one player not just by position but his game was effective, he proved a worth ball carrier and fought back well in defence.
Such was the case even at the scrums where together with hooker Keith Murray and tight-head prop Kevin Nqindi they formed a formidable trio that was well supported by their looses in the form of Jacques Leitao, Greame Lawler and Groenewald.
Zimbabwe enjoyed much in the second half, but were at times frustrated by the Kenya defence as they were forced to make mistakes especially in the final pass but that did not deter the Sables who wanted to keep their World Cup dream a reality.
It was 13 minutes into the second period that Mudariki exploded off the base of the scrum just inside the Kenya 22 metre after he saw a gap in the Kenya defence extending Zimbabwe’s lead but this was the only conversion Cronje missed taking Zimbabwe to 18-10.
Cronje was responsible for Zimbabwe’s last 10 points of the game, scoring a try, a conversion and a penalty in the 78th minute that left Zimbabwe regretting at the technical benches decision to go for the posts.
With all Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe all tied on points difference, it boiled down to points difference where Namibia – who got in their game against Madagascar after the Zimbabwe-Kenya game knowing exactly what they needed
Scorers
Zimbabwe
Tries: O’ Neil, H. Mudariki, Cronje;
Conversions: Cronje (two)
Penalties: Cronje (three)
Kenya
Tries: Khayange (one)
Conversion: Asego
derick.khumalo