adminMbachi Mutukula-Maregere Sports Reporter
HARARE Sports Club are going to use their bye in the National Rugby League this weekend wisely as they are set to play in the DARP Lusaka Challenge Rugby tournament in Zambia.
The two-day event to be played at Lusaka Show Grounds will feature teams from Tanzania, Kenya and the hosts Zambia.
Sports Club captain Shingai Mpofu said they are looking forward to the event as it will help them to boost their fitness following a two-month break in the National Rugby League recently.
Sportivo lead in the NRL first round matches and Mpofu said their preparations for the DARP are progressing. They are expected to select their squad this afternoon.
“We have been training (hard) and our progress is excellent. We have been working on a number of areas and I believe the coaches are going to come up with a good squad since we have many players but only a few of them are expected to travel to Zambia.
“It is good that we are going for the tournament and playing teams from other countries will be a major boost to Sports Club,” said Mpofu.
Sports Club suffered a 11-14 defeat at the hands of rivals and former champions Old Georgians last week in the local league.
The defeat ended Sports Club’s eight-match unbeaten run as they had gone into the break on top of the log with only one defeat being their worst performance of the first half of the season and this was a huge reason for the Dragons to celebrate.
Sports Club were the only side that got the better of the Dragons, but on Saturday they managed to turn the tables, edging the Red Lions in front of their home crowd, thanks to a late penalty by scrum-half Hilton Mudariki.
A dull match was expected due to the long break that both teams were coming from and referee Tinashe Kamwenje made things worse when giving wrong calls, left dangerous tackles go unpunished and issued out three yellow cards and a red card.
Old Georgians got all the four cards with winger Kudakwashe Chiwanza, centre Craig Elcombe and lock/flank fortunate Chipendu receiving yellow cards while stand-in coach Vakai Hove was red-carded and sent to the terraces following a misunderstanding with the match officials.
Despite all this, the Dragons came, fought and conquered in the Lion’s Den and captain Jacques Leitao felt they had a chance of doing better but they were their own worst enemies as they failed to convert the chances that came their way.
“We lost to Sports Club in the first leg and getting a win against them feels really good.
“It was a very heated contest and we had some of our players sent off.
“We missed our opportunities in the first half. We did not really do well in there but we had to do something when we were down to 13 men and the boys really had to get it by putting some phases together.
Online Reporter