Rugby fiesta bursts into life
LADIES and males’ select teams are hoping for better fortunes when the inaugural Paramount Garments Invitational Tournament (PGIT) gets underway this weekend.
The PGIT 2022 is a seniors 15s rugby tournament which will feature four club and three provincial teams.
It will be played across three provinces. The tournament will be powered by Paramount Garments Works and administered by the Harare Province Rugby Board.
Pool A comprises of Bulawayo, Manicaland Select, Old Hararians; while Pool B has Harare Select, Harare Sports Club and Old Georgians.
For the ladies’ category, four teams will partake in the competition, including FS Raiders, Bulawayo, Harare and Manicaland Provinces.
The competition kicks-off with a first leg Archer Tournament in Bulawayo tomorrow (Saturday), before the second leg dubbed the Salty Tournament will come to Mutare next Saturday.
The third leg, Javlin Tournament, is set for Harare on September 3 and will culminate into the Paramount Garments Rugby Tournament finals slated for September 10.
The 2022 tournament will serve as a test for a more comprehensive tournament in 2023.
The main theme of the tournament will be ‘Fun day out for the whole family’.
Manicaland men’s team manager, Casper ‘Belt’ Bandi expressed confidence that the men’s team will give a good account of themselves.
“We are going in as Manicaland Rugby Men Select. We have been having open training sessions for all the players and preparations are going on well. We started the training sessions four weeks ago and the turn out has been fantastic.
“I think we have a strong and improved team than the one we had in March. It is a young squad with the average age of 24.
“Captain Jones Dedza will lead the team and he is one of the players we are banking on. We also have Shingi Manyara who is coming in with lots of playing experience from South Africa,’’ said Bandi.
The Manicaland Rugby Women’s Select team that had a slow start with their preparations are hoping to be in good shape and are ready to put on a good show.