adminSports Correspondent
THREE Hillcrest College rugby players made the cut for the 22-member Country Districts Under-18 squad that will compete tomorrow (Saturday) at the national trials at Falcon College in Esigodini, Bulawayo.Solomon Goto, Dawson Pasirai and Emmanuel Dozva were selected at the provincial trials held last Saturday at Watershed College in Marondera.
The Country Districts trials were running concurrently with other provincial trials countrywide.
The Country Districts team comprises of select schools in nearby towns outside Harare (Chinhoyi and Marondera) and in Manicaland.
Four Hillcrest College players were also selected for the Under-16 Country Districts squad namely, Tinashe Mutsemiwa, Tapiwanashe Warara, Marvin Torindo and Tadiwa Muchemwa.
The usual clash between the Hillcrest Leopards and archrivals Watershed Owls as well as Peterhouse versus Lomagundi College were the highlight of the day.
After beating Watershed 29-14 at the Dairibord schools rugby festival, Hillcrest this time round narrowly lost 7-8 at the trials last Saturday, while Peterhouse won 23-5 against Lomagundi.
Hillcrest was the only school from Manicaland this year in the absence of the Mutare Boys’ High Shumbas and Marist Panthers that usually take part in the trials.
U-18 coach, Godwin ‘Jaws’ Murambiwa, said six select-teams are expected to compete at
the inter-provincial national trials tomorrow.
Harare and Matabeleland will field two teams, while Country Districts and the Central Region including the developmental squad picked at the Dairibord schools rugby festival will each field one team.
The selected players will make up the Junior Sables (U-18 national team) squad that will travel to South Africa for the annual Coca-Cola Craven Week being held in Stellenbosch from July 13-18, while the U-16 national side will compete at the Grant Khomo Week from July 6-8 in Oudtshoorn.
Last year, Hillcrest College’s Tinashe Gonese was the only player from Manicaland drafted in the Junior Sables.
The annual Craven Week in South Africa, just like the Dairibord schools rugby festival, has over the years become a hunting ground for talent scouts looking for new players for provincial teams and rugby academies.
Many South African young and upcoming players see the tournament as an ideal platform to further their professional rugby careers including invitational teams’ players from Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Online Reporter