Teamwork pays for Sables

following their triumphant tour of Uganda.
The Harare Sports Club loose forward said it was their win against hosts Uganda in the opening game that made his side realise their potential of winning the group.
A 25-15 win over the East Africans was the first time in six years that the Sables managed to beat the Cranes in front of their home crowd, making it their second win in Uganda since 2003.
Maybe, because of the rains that had fallen just before this game, the tourists had a slow start and trailed 8-10 by half-time.
The forwards were not that strong, and Zimbabwe were really not good on the line out where they even lost most of their balls due to bad throws.
Mandenge had to make a number of changes in the second half and this paid resulting in his side scoring three tries in the second period.
“Teamwork was the only thing that kept us going and the improved second half against Uganda was because we were now used to the conditions and the huge Uganda crowd.” Said Mpofu. Under-20 graduate Charles Jiji got his first Sables cap in this victory while Dylan Bradshaw also grabbed his first in this tournament.
However, having risen on the IRB World Rankings to reach their all time high of 42, the Sables were determined that they could overpower Madagascar.
Unfortunately the Sables suffered a minor setback following the injury of centre Cleopas Makotose, who pulled his quadriceps, while winger Tangai Nemadire suffered a concussion following a collision with his opposite number.
However, Makotose had to pass a late fitness test and made it into the starting line-up that saw several changes including one in which Mpofu got a start.
And Mpofu justified his inclusion in the starting line-up by coach Cyprian “Supa” Mandenge who was standing in for Brandon Dawson.
The loose forward was terrific with the ball and together with Gardner Nechironga they managed to score a brace of tries each in their 49-0 defeat of Madagascar.
Zimbabwe’s kicking was awful on the afternoon as the Sables only managed to convert two of the nine tries the Sables ran into the Malagasy try box.
“Our wing against Uganda was the big boost for us and when we played Madagascar because we were excited about the fact that we had risen on the rankings – something we were not aware of until the manager (Noddy Kanyangarara) told us.
“We just felt that we had to keep going and we could see ourselves playing in the 1A Group that houses the best teams in Africa. “We did not any impact on the absence of Nemadire because we had enough players who could fit in the shoes on the bench,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Sables fans have hailed the side’s performance in the three team performance as a turning point of the game in Zimbabwe.