Zimpapers Sports Hub
Plumtree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (5) 15
Mutare Boys High . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (5) 5
Mutare Boys High and Plumtree were yesterday the focal point of the Mwana Group International Schools Rugby festival and the two senior sides did not disappoint as they put on quite a spectacle, albeit in a low-scoring encounter at Prince Edward's Jubilee field yesterday.
Their respective coaches, Casper Belt Bandi, and Francis Nakamu, were united in their gratitude for the return of the festival and felt their charges could have done better to make full use of the opportunity afforded to them.
For Nakamu, he was left to rue the absence of many of his regular starters and felt his Plumtree unit could have then won by a bigger margin.
"We will take the win, but I was not happy with my boys' performance," said Nakamu.
"We play very good rugby but today the guys seemed to be absent and we only got the win through some individual brilliance from one or two players. "We were supposed to have won by a bigger margin but, maybe, I am going to point that to the absence of some of my starters.
"The kids from Plumtree come from all over the country and some of the parents refused to release their children. The only good thing to come out of that was that it allowed some fringe players to showcase their talents.
"Now, we have a bigger base," he said.
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Maybe it was the perfectionist in Nakamu but Plumtree did have their bright moments and in a dominant show. Winger Lawrence Ndlovu was arguably one of the best players on the park and capped off his Player-of-the-Match performance with a brace of tries, either side of half-time, while Iblamu Dumbura put the icing on the cake when planting Plumtree's third. Mutare found the going tough with Djimburu Manyuchi scoring his side's only try in the first half.
However, the team seem to be a work in progress as Bandi tried to look on the bright side and chalk off the result as "a learning curve".
"Plumtree came out with the right mentality and deservedly won," he said.
"It was a bad day in the office for us and now we go back to the drawing board to prepare for our next game against Milton.
Results:
Harare Girls High 0- 22 Domboramwari
Shield Academy Girls 15-10 Royal College
Lord Malvern 24- 0 Glen View 2
Allan Wilson 8- 5 Chipadze High Under-16
Kutama 31-12 Marist Brothers
Goromonzi 8-12 Milton Boys High
Nhowe Mission 36-14 Morgan High School
