adminJunior Africa Cup set to get underway tomorrow.
The week-long event will be held at Prince Edward School and some of the teams started trickling into the country yesterday morning with teams arriving in batches.
Zimbabwe are the defending champions and winning this tournament will see them win a third successive crown in the tournament that also serves as the qualifier for the Junior World Rugby Trophy.
Coach Brighton Chivandire yesterday said he was happy with the side that will do duty for the nation in the tournament.
Centre Mclean Muhambi, who missed out on the trip to Georgia for the JWRT in May after he suffered an ankle injury at the Cottco schools festival, found his way back into the squad together with Michael Sinclair who could not travel due to academic commitments.
“True, I am happy with the side which is well balanced and we have picked a number of players that were with the Craven Week side and those who have come in are in the schools system,” said Chivandire.
The bulk of the players in the Under-19 side have experience on the international scene as most of them were part of the Harare Lions, Goshawks and Zimbabwe Under-18 sides that took on the British Barbarians in April.
Seven of the players in the squad, including Murray Bryce-Rodgers, Delroy Sibanda, Graham Logan, and Farai Jijita, bring a lot of experience and stability in the Young Sables forwards.
Combined with the backs trio of flyhalf Shane Linfield, winger Justin Coles and fullback Marcus Nel, who were also part of the side that played at the 2011 edition of the JWRT in Tbilisi, Georgia, Chivandire believes this is a balanced side.
Prop Joshua Smallbones featured in three games against the British Barbarians, as he was part of the Harare Lions side that won against the British in the opening game at Prince Edward.
He also went on to play for the Goshawks and Zimbabwe Under-18 side at the just-ended Coca-Cola Craven Week in South Africa.
The prolific flank pairing of Daniel Rorke and Tapiwa Tsomondo was also at the Craven Week, played for the Harare Lions and the Under-18 side together with the likes of fullback James Forrester, centre Preston
Bryant, scrummy Robert Sargeant and Kudakwashe Makuvire.
“The good thing about most of the players in this side is that they have had some game time against some top teams like the British Barbarians.
“So this (experience) is of huge value and you can not buy that exposure and experience gained from the Craven Week and the JWRT tournaments.”
Some of the players that have also made it into the Under-19 side, include flyhalf Lenience Tambwera, Tonderai Chigumbira, scrummy Michael McIntosh, hooker Mathew Mandioma and Richard Morkel.
However, Chivandire believes he could have had a stronger side at the tournament were it not for the absence of five other players that were in Georgia and are still eligible for the qualifiers and next year’s world tournament.
Ian Muza, Hilton Mudariki, Dylan Coetzee Victor Mushoriwa and Corey van Rensberg are all still eligible to play for the Young Sables but are not available for this campaign.
“We would obviously have loved them to play in this tournament but for the likes of Hilton Mudariki their availability was beyond our control as it was all about his contractual terms.”
The side was in camp for a week and Chivandire believes he did not get enough time with the boys as they had different commitments before coming into camp.
Zimbabwe U-19 Squad
Backs
James Forrester, Marcus Nel (fullbacks), Justin Coles, Denham Zimbudzana, Mclean Muhambi, Richarrd Morkel, Preston Bryant (centres), Lenience Tambwera, Shane Linfield (flyhalves), Michale Mcintosh, Robert Sargeant (scrumhalves).
Forwards
Murray Bryce-Rodgers, Delroy Sibanda, Joshua Smallbones, Kudakwashe Makuvire, T. Ndaba (props), Zulu, Mathew Mandioma (hookers), Graham Logan, Michael Sinclair (locks), Tonderai Chigumbira, Daniel Rorke, Farai Jijita, Tapiwa Tsomondo (flanks).
Online Reporter