Chronicle Editor
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Rugby Union are in the process of coming up with a venue for the Under-20 Barthes Trophy Pool B matches to be played in the country in April.
The tournament, to feature Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Morocco and Madagascar will take place from 3 to 6 April. Because of the age group involved, ZRU president Aaron Jani indicated that they were looking at having the matches played at one of the schools.
Prince Edward, Saint George’s College and St John’s College in Harare and Falcon College in Esigodini are some of the schools with the capacity to host such a tournament.
“We are in the process of identifying a venue for the Under-20 Barthes Trophy Pool B matches which are hosting in April. Looking at the age group, we will most likely use one of the schools which has the capacity to host this tournament,’’ Jani said.
The Young Sables take on Ivory Coast on 3 April, with Morocco and Madagascar also in action on the same day with the winners of the two matches to clash on 6 April while the losers will meet for a third place playoff.
Zimbabwe, demoted from Group A will look to make a return to that elite pool, whose winner gets to qualify for the qualifiers for the Junior World Rugby Trophy.
“We have home advantage, hosting this tournament raises our profile in the region and gives mileage to our partners. It gives us the best chance of winning the tournament and getting back to Group A,” said Jani.
Farai Mahari, the Young Sables coach has already started the process of identifying his team for the Under-20 Barthes Trophy Pool B with 41 players having been identified. The final squad of 30 players will get into camp at the end of March to prepare for the tournament.
“We had trials in early December and camp in mid December from where we’ve picked a 41 man squad. The December camp had all the South Africa based and Zimbabwe based players,’’ Mahari said.
Last year, the Young Sables were in the Under-20 Barthes Trophy South which was played in Namibia. Zimbabwe were beaten 27-17 by eventual winners Namibia but made amends by thrashing Madagascar 100-15 to finish third.
— @Mdawini_29
Online Reporter