Zimbabwe Under-20 warm up for Rugby Africa Under-20 Barthes Trophy with big win over Consha

Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter

THE Zimbabwe national Under-20 men’s rugby team warmed up for this year’s Rugby Africa Under-20 Barthes Trophy, which gets underway at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday with an 86-6 triumph over the Consha Babarians at Old Hararians on Tuesday.

Young Sables coach, Shaun De Souza said Tuesday’s match was not really about the score as it was about giving the Consha Barbarians, a team mostly made up of players from Bulawayo that was selected from a tournament sponsored by Consha Holdings an opportunity to express themselves while at the same time giving the national team lads a final chance to prepare before they depart for Kenya on Thursday.

“This opportunity is good for the growth and inclusive structure we are trying to create as Zimbabwe Under-20 technical team we are setting the foundation and stepping platform into Sables and Cheetahs systems.

“Pulling players from all our provinces in our inclusive approach where we have open door for all players leaving the school system into our high-performance program. This initiative by Under-20 and Consha Barbarians is just the beginning we will see other provinces joining this pathway and partnerships for the benefit of junior rugby players across the country,’’ De Souza said.

Before they played the Consha Babarians, the Young Sables took on Harare Select at Churchill High School. De Souza started working on this year’s Rugby Africa U20 Barthes Trophy in December 2021 when he had 100 players. From there, the squad was cut to 60 before being down to 45 after the team played in the Nedbank Challenge. For the match against Consha Babarians, there were 30 players but only 25 are leaving for Kenya on Thursday.

Zimbabwe is one of the eight countries taking part in the Rugby Africa Under-20 Barthes Trophy, with the Zimbabwean lads to square off against Tunisia in the quarterfinals on one of the four matches lined up on Saturday.

De Souza said he does not have much insight into Saturday’s opponents but is anticipating typical Tunisian form of rugby.

“We are expecting quick running style of Tunisian rugby, we really need to win this match to get into the semis,’’ he said.

At the end of the tournament, the teams ranked seventh and eighth will play in a repechage competition comprising four nations, themselves and two challengers from the rest of Africa, for two slots at the next Barthes Trophy in 2023. -@Mdawini_29