PRINCE Edward (PE)School rugby team coach Shan de Souza says it will be “definitely hard” for his current squad to match last year’s “Invincibles” in going the entire domestic season unbeaten as they brace for a new campaign.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
The PE class of 2017 etched their names into the school’s history books after becoming the first Tigers side in 17 years to complete the season unbeaten.
The historic campaign ensured the 2017 squad emulated the famous Tigers side of 1999/2000, which featured such quality players as former Springboks winger Tonderai Chavhanga, then France-based flyhalf Piet Benade and former Pumas winger Gordon Pangeti only to mention a few.
De Souza, a member of the PE Tigers team of 1996, which also went unbeaten, believes it is going to be hard for his current squad to repeat last year’s feat given that other teams have been working hard ahead of the new season.
“It will definitely be hard this season. going unbeaten in the schools league is definitely an honour, but there are good players developing from all schools and we have talented coaches with good credentials most of whom are now World Rugby Level 3 Elite coaches in the making,” De Souza said.
“We are the team to beat, so having the unbeaten title just makes it even harder. We would definitely like to defend the title. It will be great to have back-to-back titles but we know it will not be easy. Peterhouse, Falcon, St George’s and Churchill will be strong this year and you can’t write off any team. St John’s, Hillcrest and Kyle have all gone on tour and this will make this season very exciting,” he said.
The Tigers intensified their preparations for the new season by taking part in the Krugersdorp High School Easter Rugby Festival, which included nine very competitive teams from Gauteng Province in addition to the four teams from Zimbabwe.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
They were joined by three other Zimbabwean schools, Hilcrest College, St George’s College and Lomagundi College.
The four schools used the festival to prepare for next term’s Zimbabwean schoolboy rugby season, which gets underway at the annual Zimbabwe Schools Rugby Festival to be held in the capital from April 30 to May 5.
De Souza was pleased with his team’s performance during the festival. they registered wins over Pretoria Boys High (26-10) and Queens High School (52-0) while losing one match against Bastion Boys High (7-12).
“Our pre-season tour to the Krugersdorp Easter Rugby Festival was good for the Tigers as we got to cap 19 new players for the 2018 season. We retained six players from last year’s team, but we were missing Michael Mhute who was on Sevens duty in Florida for the Zambezi Steelers,” he said.
“We scored 85 points and conceded 22 with a total of 13 tries and 10 conversions conceding three tries, one penalty and two conversions
“The pre-season festival is very important to us as we get to see the new players play against teams, which are well into their season. We use these festivals for team building and trying out combinations. The matches help us with planning style of play patterns of attack and defence.”
De Souza says his charges still have some work to do in their search for perfection.
“Although we scored 13 tries, we had many opportunities that went begging from unforced errors and the last pass not going to hand. I believe we are in the right direction the structures are shaping up. But there are a few things we still need to work on like defensive mauls and correcting set phases at lineouts and scrums, he said. Prince Edward School Krugersdorp Tour Squad
Thabo Nyazema, Londeka Mpofu, Brendon Mudzikitiri (c), Panashe Matapure, Dylan Utete, Gideon Maseka, Nathan Tanyanyawa (vc), Tadiwanashe Mberekwazvo, Ngonidzashe Magundani, Tinashe Hombiro (vc), Ian Chikukwa, Ryan Mutandwa, Edwin Mutseyekwa, Darrell Makwasha, Leeroy Kagodora, Tawanda Denenga, Keegan Nyakwangwa, Denzel Maramba, Ryan Tekede, Siphosenkosi Kadzutu. Tanaka Ndabambi, Mthabisi Mpofu, Ryan Nyirenda, Nyasha Shiripinda, Tadiwanashe Kainga, Rodney Nechironga
Head Coach: Shaun de Souza
Assistant Coach: Hugh Vera
Team Manager: Dzidzai Muhomba
