The Young Sables’ mission against Namibia tomorrow is more than just winning the Africa Cup and qualifying for the Junior World Rugby Trophy, but the Under-19 rugby team has also been burdened with repairing the local game’s bruised and battered ego after the mauling of the seniors in Namibia recently.
by Kevin Mapasure
The senior side suffered a disappointing 80-6 defeat to Namibia in their own version of the same competition with a combination of factors contributing to their downfall.
The Young Sables have not suffered the same misfortunes that dogged the senior side, they had their time in camp and prepared well ahead of this tournament.
Having successfully negotiated their way past Kenya in the semi-finals on Wednesday, their showdown with Namibia in junior rugby’s blockbuster is likely to provide enthralling entertainment.
The onus is on them to run out and shed blood and sweat to repair any damage.
Coach Brendon Brider acknowledged that his team will carry the heavy burden of the country’s pride and expectation in this match.
“Obviously this will be a very important match for us for various reasons, but chief among those is for us to get one over Namibia considering the disappointing defeat we suffered at senior level,” Brider said.
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But he was quick to point out that the task will be a mammoth one, though it is one they can surmount on home soil tomorrow.
“Having watched Namibia in the semis and with the way we played against Kenya, I think the final will be tough for both sides and it will be a very physical game. We will seek improvements in certain areas, what is important is for us to play to the best of our potential before we start worrying about what the Namibians can do.”
With Joshua Ganod having missed three try conversions, Zimbabwe will be looking to improve in that area as well as the execution of tackles and scrums in the all-important epic.
Captain Connor Pritchard is confident that Zimbabwe can play better than they did against Kenya and pull off a result against Namibia.
A win against Nambia at this level has been elusive, but the current crop of the Young Sables is relishing the prospect of breaking the losing streak.
“We didn’t play to our full potential against Kenya, but it’s good that we still pulled off a win. We need to improve going into the match against Namibia and we have a point to prove against them,” said Pritchard.
“After watching them play against Uganda we were left with no doubt that we can compete or let alone beat them. The guys have been looking forward to this match and we go into the final with a lot of confidence, hopefully we can get the result that we want.”
