THE touring English Independent Schools Under-18 rugby side will be looking to continue their dominance when they clash against the Under-18 Goshawks team in their penultimate match of their whirlwind tour of Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club today.
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Having kick-started their tour with dominant 0-76 win over Mbare Academy on Sunday, The Lambs, as the side is affectionately known, registered their second win on tour after beating Prince Edward School 6-26 on Monday at Harare Sports Club.
But the win was not without a few glitches for the tourists as Prince Edward put on a spirited performance against the well-drilled English side.
In fact, Prince Edward, who had very little time to prepare for the match, could have come out of the match with a better result if they had converted their second-half dominance into points.
Given the little time the local players have had to prepare for these matches, The Lambs will be overwhelming favourites to continue their perfect run against the Under-18 Goshawks.
The Goshawks side is made up of players who represented Zimbabwe at the Craven Week tournament in South Africa last year and will be under the tutelage of national Under-19 coach Nsikelelo Sibanda.
Sibanda will also coach Presidents’ XV, a team made up of national Under-19 players, in the final match against the English Independent Schools on Friday.
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Zimbabwe Under-19 team manager Blessing Chiutare said he had been impressed by the English Independent Schools and was confident they would give them an opportunity to measure themselves ahead of the Confederation of African Rugby Under-19 Championships to be held in Windhoek, Namibia, from August 26-31.
“They are definitely a well-drilled side and I actually think they will be much stronger for the matches when they play against the Goshawks and the Presidents’ XV sides,” Chitaure said.
“Although we have had very limited time to prepare, we feel we will benefit from the matches as they will give us an indicator of what we need to work on before the Junior Africa Cup.”
