THE Zimbabwe Junior Sables came from behind to seal a historic 38-37 win over the USA in their final group match of the 2023 World Rugby U20 Trophy match played in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday.
With many first-team players starting from the bench, the Junior Sables suffered an early setback going down 14-0 but fought back to lead 16-14 going into the halftime break.
A series of errors and knock-ons allowed the Junior Eagles to score tries and penalties, taking charge of the match in the second half.
With both teams winless coming into the match, Zimbabwe U20 coach Shaun De Souza brought in his bomb squad, Brendan Marume and Shadreck Mandaza. The duo repaid their coach’s faith breaking USA’s hearts and giving the Junior sables their first victory over the North Americans.
Zimbabwe last won a match at this level in 2012 when they beat Russia. De Souza was happy with the win.
“We are definitely excited for the win, coming from behind most of the second half,” he said.
The former Sables winger explained why benched his first team:
“With the wholesome changes that you saw that I made in the starting lineup, the plan was to give the fringe players, the guys that hadn’t played any games in the tournament, some run and to give it all in the first 40 and just to keep the scoreboard ticking.”
The Junior Sables under De Souza are known for their running rugby, but they played more of Test rugby, putting points on the board through the kicking tee to apply scoreboard pressure.
“Today, we played a different type of game. It’s something we had within our arsenal,” added De Souza.
“During our camp, a kicking coach came and worked on our kicking game. I think today it paid dividends. The plan was to play Test match in the first half and open it up in the second half.
“Unfortunately, we lost some momentum in the second half when the USA started putting points on the board. We then composed ourselves and got the bomb squad on. I wanted to put the bomb squad early but had to calm the nerves first because we were on the back foot. Then the bomb squad came and did what we had planned. I am excited when the plan comes together and the win under our belt.”
“We have never won against the USA, and it’s a brilliant win for Zimbabwe, a third-world country beating a first-world country. What a feeling for the boys. The boys are just excited, and now we go for the fifth place play-off on Sunday against Kenya.”
