The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema
Zimbabwe Under-20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (19) 46
Tunisia Under-20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (11) 21
THEY may not have been at their fluid best, but Zimbabwe’s Under-20 rugby side showed glimpses of their class as they got their Barthes Trophy title defence off to a flying start at the Harare Sports Club’s Machinery Exchange Stadium yesterday.
Their demanding coach, Shaun De Souza, while taking the victory and the points that left the hosts at the top of the four-team table, pointed out that he was not entirely pleased with the overall performance.
In the tournament’s opening match at the same venue, Kenya survived a late surge by former champions Namibia as the East Africans ran out 34-28 winners.
But the focus was always going to be on the main game of the day, which featured champions and hosts Zimbabwe against Tunisia.
And De Souza noted some errors, which on any other day could have haunted his side.
In the end, the Junior Sables outmuscled and outfoxed the Tunisians, running in six tries, with South Africa-based centre Edward Sigauke leading the charge with a brace.
The other try scorers for Zimbabwe were Shammah Jackson, Allan Mawunga, Emmanuel Magutakuona and Tatenda Runyowa.
Skipper Benoni Nhekairo weighed in with 16 points from the boot, sending over two penalties and five conversions.
Yet the visitors were the ones who had threatened to spoil the party for the home fans in a packed stadium when they raced into the lead off a penalty converted by their flyhalf Mohamed Missaoui.
The North Africans deserve some credit for taking the game to the hosts as they only arrived in Zimbabwe on Friday owing to weather-induced flight delays when connecting from Tunisia.
Their flight was among those affected by the torrential rains and floods that engulfed the Middle East region last week.
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The North Africans lost their luggage amidst all the chaos. They had to wear the maroon, green and white stripes of Old Hararians after their kit got lost in transit.
That being said, Tunisia had Mohamed Aziz Ksouri and lock Ayeb Wissem (twice) crossing the line for the North African’s tries.
Missaoui also added three conversions.
Surprisingly, Tunisia coach Stephane Ferriere appeared the more satisfied of the two gaffers as he paid tribute to his charges for their spirited performance.
“Well, it was a great match,” he said. “Zimbabwe is a very good team and it was very interesting for us because it increased our level and we had to be at a high level to compete against them.
“It was a big lesson for us and we learnt a lot in this game.”
Ferriere said jet lag caught up with his charges in the last quarter of the game.
“My players had about 60-65 minutes in them and anything after that was too long for them after the travel delays. The players were very tired, and I was astonished by how the boys played,” he said.
De Souza, on his part, still wants more.
“I think we will take the results,” said De Souza. “We knew it was going to be a bit nerve-racking; it’s a young team and they are coming out on this big stage at home.
“To their credit, the boys composed themselves, absorbed their errors and we picked up the tempo. There are a lot of positives to take away from this game and a lot of coaching points too.”
