adminJeff Murimbechi Sports Correspondent
ZIMBABWE’S Under-19 rugby squad has been announced with a 24-man team named to represent the country in the Junior Africa Cup, which also doubles up as the Junior Rugby World Cup qualifier. The tournament will be held in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, in South Africa. “We are expecting do well in South Africa, we’ve worked hard enough in camp and we’ve been working for weeks and now we are just expecting (positive) results when we travel there,” said team manager Blessing Chitaure.
“The talent is there and our chances of qualifying for the World Cup are very high because the talent is there.”
Zimbabwe are in the same pool with Kenya, Madagascar and Namibia.
The team finished as runners-up to Namibia, who continue to provide a stumbling block, whenever they come into battle with the local teenage rugby players. “It’s not going to be an easy game against Namibia but I think we put in more work than before we’ve had more consecutive training sessions this year than before so we have a new formula and a new system which we believe will pay back,” said Chitaure.
During the team’s preparations, renowned South African forward specialist Nico de Villiers was drafted in to assist Geoffrey Madhake in fine-tuning their pack.
However, a number of players who came from the impressive national Under-18 team that shined brightly at the recent Craven Week festival in Polokwane, pulled out of the squad weeks before the final selection.
David Moolman and Brendan Mandivenga, who was the star of that team, have European commitments and are unavailable for the qualifiers while a host of others like Thabani Mujeni and Tapiwa Muringani said they were unavailable because of study commitments.
“We selected a team which included those boys before the Craven Week squad, there was a pool of 70 players and we anticipated that some will make it into the final team and some would not but we are confident with what we have,” said Chitaure.
Zimbabwe Under-19 Team
Gabriel Sipapate ,Newton Tanyanyiwa, Andrew Mataga, Alva Senderayi, Mkululi Ndhela, Takudzwa Kumadiro , Tinashe Gwisai, Malcom Maparura ,Lance Chikodzi, Lloyd Mudzova, Bastien Mendelsohn, Bright Ruzvidzo, Houghton Chachoma, Michael Gazimbi, Thulani Dhliwayo , Tawanda Chipadza, Kudakwashe Nhira, Chalamagne Jaysile, Ngoni Chibuwe, Takudzwa Fransico, Nyasha Chimedza , Charles Mungwari, Kudakwashe Nhira , Sebastian Roche
Head Coach: Nsikelelo Sibanda
Forwards Coach : Geoffrey Madhake
Backline Coach: Marvin Chirume
Team Manager: Blessing Chitaure
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