Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Paul Munyuki
23 August 2008
Harare — THE Zimbabwe Under-19 rugby side got a morale-boosting victory when they beat giants and hosts Tunisia 18-11 in their opening match of the World Championship Africa Zone qualifier.
Zimbabwe and Morocco both claimed narrow victories in sweltering heat on day one of the Confederation of African Rugby Under-19 Championship qualifiers on Thursday.
According to reports from Tunisia, the host nation suffered an opening 18-11 loss to Zimbabwe -- who have previously represented Africa in the IRB Under-19 World Championships -- while Morocco edged Kenya by an even smaller margin 21-18.
Six nations are bidding to win the tournament and qualify as Africa's representatives for next year's IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy at a venue yet to be announced.
The tournament organisers were forced to reschedule the event, which is being staged over four match days in Tunis, after Madagascar pulled out and were also followed by Uganda.
Defending champions Namibia were expected to arrive in the Tunisian capital last night and will kick off their campaign against Morocco tomorrow.
Cote d'Ivoire will also play their first match, against the hosts, tomorrow.
Last year Herman Rust's last-minute drop goal claimed a dramatic 23-20 victory for Namibia against perennial rivals Zimbabwe in Casablanca and the Namibians went on to represent the continent at the first IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy in Chile.
The Namibians finished fifth at the tournament, losing their first two games against Romania and Chile before rallying to beat the Cook Islands and South Korea.
Meanwhile, battle lines have been drawn in the Northern Rugby League where Old Hararians will host their bitter rivals Harare Sports Club in a potentially explosive match while District Dragons will host Alex in a David and Goliath affair at Old Georgians.
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