THE Zimbabwe Women’s Fifteens rugby team will be hoping to turn things around in their second match against Zambia on Saturday (tomorrow).
The Munya Mhonda coached side lost the first game 31-22 in a fiercely contested match at the Machinery Exchange Harare Sports Club.
The girls had not played rugby in almost 18 months, and their lack of match fitness started showing in the second half, having gone to the break with the scores level.
Despite the loss, Zimbabwe skipper Leanne Max remains upbeat about their chances tomorrow against the same opponent.
“We did pretty well in our first game, given that we had not played any competitive rugby in almost a year and a half. We just need to work on our defensive patterns in the second match,” Max told EnterSportNews.
Zimbabwe coach Mhonda is also singing from the same hymn book as her captain and thinks the scoreline in the previous game only tells half the story.
“The girls played very well in their first game; although we lost, the scoreline did not reflect what transpired in the actual match. Our fitness level and conditioning are nowhere at the levels we want them to be,” said Mhonda.
Mhonda is not one to shy away from making big decisions as he tries to build a team for the future.
He has already set the tone by selecting a largely youthful side in the first home match as rugby finally returned to the country after the Covid-19 disruption.
“It’s been my first year with the side, and I have opted to go with a more youthful side with the next world cup qualifiers in mind,” he added.
