adminPaul Munyuki Sports Reporter
VETERAN rugby coach Godwin “Jaws” Murambiwa says junior rugby needs full support from the Zimbabwe Rugby Union if they are to do well at the annual South African Craven Week festival next year.
This year his side lost all three games at the Under-18 Craven Week festival but the former Sables coach believes the junior teams would also need cooperation from the players, schools, and the ZRU.
“It is going to be tough but as a coach there is also need to think outside the box, I also need support from the ZRU, the schools and the players themselves because we know the reason we have not been doing well of late and the problems are not on the field but rather our preparations.
“If we do not work as a unit then it would not be surprising that the gap between Zimbabwe and the South African provincial sides and Namibia continues to widen. We need to start our preparations in December by including players who were in last year’s side, those who made the provincial sides and those who were in the Under-17 side.
“Some would say we are giving an unfair advantage to these players over others when it comes to selection day, but that is the way to go because we need to at least have a starting point, and that would be one,” said Murambiwa.
Three of the Zimbabwe junior teams take part in the annual South African Youth Weeks starting with the Under-13 (Craven Week), Under-17 (Grant Khomo Week) and the Under-18s, who participate in the Craven Week Festival.
Also on the international scene is the Under-19 side that is set to take part in the annual Junior Africa Cup, used as a qualifier for the Junior World Trophy, a tournament that the Under-20 side will be part of as hosts.
However, Murambiwa — who is also the Under-18 schools coach — believes Zimbabwe’s tactical play could come to naught if the ZRU and the schools do not invest in strength and condition of international standard.
“The biggest problem we have is that our players are not well conditioned and that is the biggest reason why Zimbabwe rugby is failing at all levels. Take for example at the Under-18 Craven Week this year, the team would play well in the first 20 to 30 minutes of the game and then the players would run out of steam.
“Not to say that there was anything wrong with their tactical skill but the fact that they were not able to hold and concentrate till the end of the game due to lack of conditioning. So that is one area we really need to invest in.”
But Murambiwa acknowledges that there are a lot of problems and challenges he is likely to face because most of the schools where the players come from have their own expectations related to training programmes and conditioning.
“We are trying to find common ground with the schools because they have their own training programmes and as a national team we also have programmes for the players but as Zimbabwe we need to give a conditioning programme.
“(ZRU director of rugby) Bright (Chivandire) knows what I want and he needs to work with the head of schools rugby (Reg Querl) so that we have players that have international standard conditioning of their age ,” said the former Sables coach.
Online Reporter