Zim U-20 set for Barthes trophy tourney

AMID the attention and the focus given to the senior team, the Sables, Zimbabwe’s Under20 rugby side have quietly been going about their business as they shape up for the Barthes’ Trophy tournament, which is a qualifier to the Junior World Cup.

A lot of time, effort, and resources have naturally been poured into the Sables’ bid to end a 31-year wait to return to the global rugby show-piece that it’s almost easy to forget that the country’s Under-20 outfit also have a pressing assignment on the horizon.

The Young Sables will next month travel to Kenya for the Under-20 Barthes Trophy, where they are expected to lock horns against Madagascar, Senegal, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia and hosts Kenya for the right to represent the continent at the World Rugby Junior Trophy.

To their credit, the Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) have ensured none of their national teams have been forgotten, whether it is the Women’s side or the Cheetahs, who are set for a send-off function tomorrow for a training camp in Stellenbosch, South Africa ahead of their international engagements.

As for the Young Sables, they have been in camp since late last year and largely gone about their business away from the spotlight as they prepare for the tourney slated for April 9-17.

They eventually came out of their shell last weekend during a Nedbank Rugby Challenge match against Harare giants Old Georgians at Old Hararians Sports Club.

While they did lose that match 33-20, coach Sean De Souza’s youth internationals showed that there is plenty of potential, and this was largely due to a fine performance that forced the local rugby fraternity to stand up and take note. De Souza has since called the just-ended tournament God-sent.

“These Challenge Cup games have been wonderful for us, and we couldn’t have asked for anything better,” said the Under-20 gaffer.

‘It’s been a good platform to assess our preparedness for Kenya, and it allowed us to give everyone in the squad a good run and show us what they can do.

“We had a big squad for the tournament, and this afforded us the opportunity to look at different combinations and systems.

“It’s something we should do more often going forward”.

For De Souza, the games have largely been eye-opening.

“In the first game, our biggest concern was our set-piece play, we were very sluggish in that.

“We fixed a few of those problematic areas in our second match, but the execution was still lacking.

“However, we still have one match against Harare Sports Club (played yesterday), and a few more weeks before we travel to Kenya to fix and polish everything,” he said.

The only downside of the campaign has been that it has exposed the team to their opponents, as the games were being beamed live, while they still know very little about the teams they will play.

“Right now, the only teams that we have a bit of an idea of how they play are Kenya and Namibia,” said De Souza.

“They managed to get some games last year, and we have seen them.

‘Zambia are a totally new team, as we only played their seniors last year, but that match-up should be very entertaining.

“We might have exposed ourselves a little, due to our participation in the Challenge Cup, but I remain confident that we will have a good outing in Kenya,” he said.

The Barthes trophy is a top priority for the Young Sables, what with the winners earning the right to represent the African continent at the World Rugby Junior Trophy.

The tournament is named after Jean-Luc Barthes, who was the rugby services manager for Rugby Africa.

He passed away in 2016.

The tournament began in 2007 with Uganda as the hosts and Namibia the inaugural winners.