admingame of the Junior Africa Cup at Prince Edward this afternoon.
The game gets underway at 2pm.
Zimbabwe were not at their best on Saturday when they got the better of Uganda with a 16-8 win in a game that was characterised by a lot of dropped balls, missed kicks and missed tackles by the Young Sables defence.
Tunisia lost their opening match 9-8 to Namibia at the same venue in a game that was played earlier in the day but they are equally optimistic that they will get the better of Zimbabwe.
The Young Sables were not good going forward as they failed to support the man on the ball.
The backs also received the ball at a pedestrian pace which made it difficult for them to penetrate the Uganda defence and it also gave them a tough time getting into contact.
This was good for the Ugandans who would get enough time to rearrange themselves though they were not able to take advantage of the gaps in the Zimbabwe side to score points.
Several chances went to waste in the kicking department where flyhalf Sean Linfield and fullback James Forrester took turns at the posts but only managed to score a single penalty each.
Centre Mclean Muhambi scored a brace of tries in the first half and that was all Zimbabwe managed.
However, manager Tungamirai Mashungu yesterday announced a changed side from the one that faced Uganda on Saturday, saying they needed pace and a running game would do the trick for them at the
Jubilee Field this afternoon.
This has forced the technical team, led by coach Brighton Chivandire, to make several changes to the side that played against Uganda, raising hopes that the Young Sables will be a different side this afternoon.
In the forwards, a number of changes have been made to the side as Tapiwa Ndaba comes in for Joshua Smallbones who was moved from number one to lock in place of Graham Logan while Tomderai Chigumbura comes in place of Daniel Rorke at flank.
In the backs, Robert Sargeant takes over from Michael McIntosh at number nine while Lenience Tambwera displaces Sean Linfield at flyhalf after he was moved to outside centre while Muhambi was moved to number 14.
“We are looking at having a side with a higher intensity and the main aim here is to pretty much up our game from what we did on Saturday against Uganda.
“We need quicker guys and I am sure if we play at a higher intensity, we will be able to come out with a win tomorrow (today).
“On Saturday we were not mobile, there was a lot of hanging off at the rucks and we do not need this if we are to defend our title.
“Tomorrow (today) we just need to blow them (Tunisia),” said Mashungu.
The Young Sables also took time to watch Tunisia lose to Namibia on Saturday and Mashungu added that they know their weaknesses.
“They butchered a number of opportunities and we know where they were going wrong which makes it fine for us.
“They were a half decent side on Saturday and we are not going to take them lightly because there is all to pay for in this tournament and we need to defend our title on home soil.
“We have to make sure we do not give them the opportunity to play the game and we have to take every chance that comes our way and if we play like we did on Saturday, then we will be in trouble,” said Mashungu.
Zimbabwe Starting XV
Forwards
T. Ndaba, M Mandiona, M. Bryce Rogers, J. Smallbones, M. Sinclair, F. Jijita, Chigumbura, T. Tsomondo,
Backs
J. Forrester, M. Muhambi, S. Linfield, P. Bryant, J. Coles, L. Tambwera, McIntosh.
Online Reporter