CONTROVERSIAL Hong Kong referee Tobi Lothien blows his whistle to signal the end of the Zimbabwe Sables match against Belgium on Tuesday at the The Sevens Stadium.
FROM DANIEL NHAKANISO IN DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
While the Belgians celebrate a hard-fought win, the disappointment on the faces of the Sables players is clear for everyone to see as they sportingly shake the hands of their opponents.
With heads hung down and arms akimbo, the team gets together for a huddle with Coach Brendan Dawson at the centre.
“We’ve got to learn from this, boys! We are now playing at a higher level and it’s always going to get harder. We’ve got to learn fast” Dawson shouts, trying his best to look at each player’s face.
It’s Zimbabwe’s second defeat in as many matches in their first appearance in the Emirates Airline Cup of Nations XVs Rugby tournament in Dubai.
However, even amid the disappointment, the youthful Sables side have by no means been disgraced and they can proudly lift their heads up high and learn from this experience.
After all, this is the type of competition that the team desperately need and must face as they aim to qualify for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.
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The bar has certainly been raised and the competition is now far stiffer than the team had got used to from playing fellow regional countries like Uganda and Kenya every year over the last few years.
“It’s a good thing that we are now playing at this level. We have a very young side and the boys will only get better as they learn from this experience,” said stand-in skipper Shingi Mpofu.
“The competition is a lot tougher than we have been used to from playing teams like Kenya and Uganda, which is exactly what we need as we look to qualify for the World Cup in 2015.
“I’m sure we will learn from our performances from this tournament and continue improving as a team so that we reach our goal. We have a lot of youngsters in this team and most of them are playing together competitively for the first time in this tournament and a couple of more matches like this will definitely be good for us.”
Mpofu, an intelligent loose forward, who has the ability to read the game, plies his trade at top Scottish side Ayr RFC. He is being groomed as a future leader of the side.
On Tuesday, he was captaining the team for the first time ahead of regular skipper, veteran lock Costa Dinha.
“We still need to work on our patience. When we get into attacking positions we are rushing things and panicking, and I feel we need to just calm down a bit and work hard for the points,” said Mpofu.
The Sables had taken the lead in the first two matches, but a combination of poor decision-making, unforced errors and lack of composure resulted in them not taking full advantage and ending up on the losing side.
While any hopes of winning the four-nation tournament have since evaporated, the Sables will, however, have a chance of ending the tournament on a high when they play hosts UAE tomorrow.
