Vultures find going tough at Africa 7s
The men’s 7s rugby team found the going tough during the just-ended World Cup Africa qualifiers held in Uganda. The Vultures finished 12th out of 14 countries, losing two matches and registering one win. Botswana suffered a heavy 52-0 loss against Madagascar before going down 26-7 to Mauritius in an improved show.
Their final match saw them defeat Cameroon 1715. At the end of the three games, the Vultures were scheduled to play two more games to decide the overall ranking of each team in the tournament but unfortunately due to heavy rains, only the top four teams were given priority.
The Botswana team was forced to settle for rankings based on the games played. Returning home this week from Uganda, means the coaches have more work to build the team. Speaking to Mmegi Sport upon return, head coach, Kabo Batsile said the boys failed to manage the game.
“We had poor game management. As a team, we should be able to dictate that as well and that means we should be able to score and narrow down the scores,” he said.
The hosts, Uganda, emerged winners and qualified for both the World Cup and the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Moving forward, the Vultures have some international friendly games to look forward to, which should assist in preparing the team for future tournaments.
During the regional qualifiers held in Lesotho, the Vultures beat the hosts and Eswatini, while falling to Mauritius.
In the build-up to their trip to Uganda, the team played in a series of three 7s tournaments to help the players’ fitness, the structuring of the team, and exposure of players to more game time.
The tournaments were dominated by the Spartans, seeing the Vultures lose in the finals.