The Sunday Mail
Sports Reporter
IT was a tale of mixed fortunes for Zimbabwe’s rugby sides as the senior team trading as the Goshawks suffered their second straight defeat at the ongoing Currie Cup in South Africa, while the Young Sables and the Sevens sides won their assignments.
The Goshawks received a ‘reality check’ on how much ground they have covered in their Africa Cup preparations when going down to a heavy 48-5 defeat by Down Touch Griffons in a game that is best remembered for the wet conditions that caught the team unprepared.
The game in Cape Town was stopped twice due to lightning.
Wet conditions aside, the Goshawks were often found guilty of too many unforced errors and let themselves down in the decision-making department.
In Kenya, however, the Young Sables edged Tunisia 19-18 to move on to the semi-final of the Barthes Trophy at Nyayo National Stadium.
Skipper Takudzwa Musingwini played the game of his life as his 13 points turned out to be the difference in a game that was characterised by nerves and a late scare for the Zimbabwe Under-20 team.
Musingwini dominated the first half as his try and two penalties saw Zimbabwe lead 11-5 at the break.
However, the game was turned on its head as the North Africans clawed their way back into the tie and seized the initiative as they led 18-14 with only two minutes remaining.
This left the Young Sables facing the prospect of an early exit from the eight-team knockout tournament.
But lock Tanaka GondoMukandapi was on hand to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat for the Young Sables.
“It was quite a nervy game start,” said Sean De Souza, the Young Sables coach.
“I think the nerves took over.
“The environment, the game setting and the stadium were all a bit too much for the boys during the match.
“We actually had a very good training session yesterday (Friday), but none of the things we worked on were visible today.
“I guess it’s one of those things,” he said.
De Souza and his boys can count themselves lucky for that last-minute try from GondoMukandapi that ensured their passage to the next round.
It was a result the gaffer was more than happy to take.
“Yeah, we are happy for the win.
“A one-point game is still a win, and now we can start preparing for Madagascar in the semi-finals.
“The job now will be to compose the boys, and, hopefully, we start playing the style of rugby I know we can play.
“While we defended well as a collective, we did nothing with ball-in-hand.
“We played way too much individual rugby in attack and that brought about too many unforced errors.
“That is not my style of rugby.
“The biggest takeaway I took from this game was that we did not play to the best our abilities.
“We barely even scratched the surface,” he said.
The country’s two Sevens outfits – the Cheetahs and the Lady Cheetahs – also had a good day in office in the Zambezi Challenger Cup at Harare Sports Club.
The Cheetahs, playing for the first time at home in four years, had a dominant display when beating Old Hararians 36-5 and thumping Matabeleland One 40-5 during their opening games of the tournament yesterday.
They are due to play teams from Zambia and Botswana, with these ties likely to be the major attractions of the day when the tournament resumes today.
The Lady Cheetahs’ squad was divided into three teams – Cheetahs Black, White and Green.
Of the three, Cheetahs Black finished the opening day’s programme the more dominant, making light work of Cheetahs White (27-7), Zambia One (22-14) and Cheetahs Green (40-0).
