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Grace Chingoma
Senior Sports Reporter
CONFIDENT Young Sables coach Shaun De Souza has declared his national Under-20 team will win the Rugby Africa Under-20 Barthes Trophy again and qualify for the World Rugby Under-20 Trophy that will be held later this year in South Africa.
Zimbabwe are currently the champions of the tournament after winning the event last year.
This year’s Barthes Trophy is set to get underway at the Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya, this Saturday and runs up to April 30.
And the holders Zimbabwe are the team to beat as they will compete against seven other countries that made it to the continental event.
Zimbabwe are in Group B alongside Namibia, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire while hosts Kenya are in Group A together with Madagascar, Tunisia and Zambia.
Last year Zimbabwe beat Namibia 19 -14 to end an 11-year drought for the trophy. The Young Sables had previously won the trophy in successive years back in 2009 and 2010.
But following their success last year, the victorious Young Sables were unfortunate they could not utilise their ticket to the Junior World Trophy that was cancelled due to Covid-19.
“I made a statement in Kenya last year after we won the trophy and I declared that we would win it again this year. So I am going to stick to my word; we are bringing it home,” declared De Souza.
Speaking on the sidelines of a send-off ceremony hosted by President Mnangagwa in honour of the team at the State House on Monday, De Souza said they will put the icing on the Independence celebrations by qualifying for the World Cup.
“We are honoured to be recognised for all the efforts we put in, it obviously gives us a heavier task ahead as we celebrate our 43rd Independence.
“Number One has asked us to come back with the trophy and definitely make ourselves available for the Junior World Trophy. So we accept the task and we will do our best to bring it home,” he said.
“We are definitely confident, we are not going to be arrogant but we are going to be confident,” said De Souza.
The coach believes there is continuity in the age-group side, which still has some of the players who featured in last year’s victory, and are still eligible for this year.
Young Sables skipper Panashe Zuze, his vice Tanaka Gondo-Mukandapi and Brendan Marume are some of the players that were in the team that showed great character to beat Namibia.
“We have put in the work, we had a process. We had junior players playing in the event last year that have developed into senior players this year.
“So the process is working well. We struggled in the European games when we played against Canada and Uruguay but we fixed that department. We sorted all our set pieces and I think we are ready to compete,” said De Souza.
A total of five players who were part of the victorious team last year were called up into the national Sables team and one into the Sevens team — the Cheetahs.
The team has been playing together regularly in friendly matches in Zambia and South Africa.
Zimbabwe Rugby Union have confirmed their final 28-man squad for the Barthes Trophy. Live wire scrumhalf Zuze will lead the team that will be out to make a successful title defence in Nairobi. The squad has six returning players from last year’s successful team namely Bryan Chiang, Alex Nyamunda, Dion Khumalo, Marume, Gondo-Mukandapi and Zuze. Young Sables captain Zuze said the new players in the set up need to believe in themselves as they seek to conquer Africa again and qualify for the global tournament that will be played in Western Cape in July.
“The new guys just need to be confident. There is nothing that beats confidence, just going out there and trying to show your talent and what you are worth.
“So when we go to Kenya, the new guys who haven’t played in the Under-20 set up before, I just encourage them just to have fun, be confident and also be humble,” said Zuze.
The diminutive scrum-half said the young Zimbabwean players would need to adapt to the conditions and take the challenge head on.
Zimbabwe Under-20 Squad: Happias Zhou, Gerry Zisengwe, Stanley Muranganwa, Vincent Chimwendo, Muzuva Gutu, Haiger Muchenje, Tadiwa Chimwada, Gealan Jaricha, Tanaka Gondo-Mukandapi, Huntley Masterson, Tawananyasha Bwanya, Nqobile Manyara, Bryan Chiang, Allan Mawunga, Leo Mutendi, Tanaka Ndoro, Panashe Zuze, Brendan Marume, Dion Khumalo, Brendan Jameson, Shadrick Mandaza, Benoni Nhekairo, Tanaka Chinyanga, Panashe Mugorogodi, Simbarashe Kanyangarara, Alex Nyamunda, Edward Sigauke, Taonaishe Mapani
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