ZIMBABWE Under-18 rugby team co-captain Angus Bruce has been ruled out of the Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week to be held at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, South Africa, from July13 to 18.
DANIEL NHAKANISO
The explosive St Georges College centre was expected to share the captaincy with Falcon College hooker Brian Muntanga, but misses out due to a recurring knee injury.
He was one of the two injury withdrawals ahead of next week’s tournament together with St Johns College hooker Cameroon Harrison.
The pair are expected to be replaced by Tinotenda Msasanure of Christian Brothers College, who had initially been named as a non-travelling reserve and George’s College student, Martin Mangongo.
“It’s obviously a blow. Angus Bruce as the team co-captain was one of the more experienced players in the side, having taken part at the 2014 edition of the festival,” Old Mutual Young Sables coach Goodwin Murambiwa said in an interview ON Wednesday.
“However, we have to move on and I believe we still have a strong squad capable of doing better than we did last year.” The Old Mutual Junior Sables will be hoping for a better outing after losing all three matches last year and kick off their campaign against Griquas Country Districts on July 14.
Zimbabwe’s second fixture will be decided based on their performance against Griquas Country Districts before the traditional fixture on the final day against rivals Namibia.
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The Old Mutual Under-18 side’s participation in Stellenbosch will bring the curtain down on what has been a busy schedule for national junior teams in South Africa.
The annual Coca-Cola Youth Week festivals began last month with the U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week held from June 29 to July 3 at Hoërskool Rob Ferreira in White River, Mpumalanga, kicking-off a month of the best in schoolboy rugby.
The Old Mutual Under-13 Young Sables were unlucky not to return without a win in their four matches, managing their best result in a 14-14 against the Free State sides after earlier losses against Blue Bulls (40-0), Griquas (15-7) and Namibia (14-13). The Under-16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week took place ran from July 6 to Thursday at Bridgton Sports Grounds, Oudtshoorn town in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
The Old Mutual Under-16 Young Sables lost 17-20 to Griquas in their first match on Monday, but turned up the heat in their second match to cruise to a massive 36-3 victory over Border Country Districts on Tuesday.
The young team is expected to conclude their campaign with a date against Namibia this morning.
