THE 2018 Dairibord Schools Rugby Festival kicks off this morning at Prince Edward with fledgling players drawn from150 local, regional and international school teams expected to showcase their talent in arguably the biggest schools rugby competition of its kind in the world.
BY SPORTS REPORTER
Running through to Saturday, the tournament will get underway today with a total of 45 matches lined up from this morning across Prince Edward’s five grounds, namely the main Jubilee Field, Avenues Field, Chapel Field, Hospital Field and Rhodes Field.
With the country’s top rugby-playing schools expected to start their campaigns on Tuesday, tomorrow’s matches will be a chance for the non-traditional rugby-playing schools to showcase their talent as the sport continues to spread across the country.
A total of 18 games featuring girls’ teams will also be played at Prince Edward tomorrow, as the girls’ schools rugby continues to grow in popularity since its inception seven years ago.
Dairibord School Rugby festival director Tawanda Jimu said all was set for this year’s festival.
“Everything is now in place and we are ready to host this Dairibord Schools Rugby Festival. Our appeal is to the fans to come in their numbers to support the future of Zimbabwean rugby.
“We have action-packed scheduled matches on the five fields at Prince Edward from the opening day right up to the last day of the festival. On Monday [tomorrow] we have a total of 45 matches lined up featuring both boys’ and girls’ teams.
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“We are also going to have educational programmes for the fans and participating players such as anti-doping awareness programmes as well as coaching courses which are certified by World Rugby,” Jimu said.
Dairibord will, for the fifth year running, be sponsoring the Schools Rugby Festival with the aim of spreading the game to all corners of the country and subsequently the entirety of the African continent.
This year’s edition of the festival is set to attract both regional and international participants with four foreign teams from Bangladesh, Botswana, Nigeria and Zambia set to battle it out for honours with local teams drawn from across the country.
Participating players will also have an opportunity to be selected in the tournament’s All-Stars team which will be accorded a trip of a lifetime to Dublin, Ireland, to participate in matches, courtesy of Sports Travel, South Africa.
Today’s Dairibord Schools Rugby Festival Fixtures
Jubilee Field: Sodbury v Harare High (0800), Bulawayo Metro v Morgan High (0900), Harare Girls v Goromonzi Girls (1000), Vainona Girls v Roosevelt (1100), GHS Girls v Bangladesh Girls (1200), St John’s Emerald Hill v Kwekwe High (1300), Mazowe v Prince Edward 2nd (1400), St George’s College 2nd v Archiv High (1500), Trust Academy v St John’s College 2nd (1600)
Avenues Field: Bradley High v Lifelong College (0800), Lord Malvern v George Stark (0900), Mufakose 2 v Daramombe High (1000), Mandedza High v Nhowe Mission (1100), Oriel Boys v Sahumani (1200), Chipadze v Glen View 1 (1300), Muterere v Western Suburbs (1400), Zengeza 1 v Mt Selinda (1500), SOS Hermann Gmeiner v Kuwadzana 1 High Hospital Field: Murehwa High v Highfield High 2 (0800), Direct Contact v Vengere High (0900), MBU High Girls v Sahumani Girls (1000), Excel College v Victoria High (1100), Dzivaresekwa 1 High Girls v Robe Academy Girls (1200), Mt Pleasant v Zengeza 4 (1300), Chaplin High v Kambuzuma High (1400), Glen Norah 2 v St Meth Tsonz (1500), Seke 1 High v Glen View 2 (1600)
Chapel Field: Queen Elizabeth Girls v Bulawayo Metro Girls (0800), Highfield High 2 v Dombo High Girls (0900), George Stark Girls v Hatcliffe Girl (1000), St Paul’s High v Robe Academy (1100), Chipindura v Dzivaresekwa 2 (1200), Mother Touch v Dombo High (1300), Royal College Girls v Sodbury Girls (1400), Mother Touch Girls V Mufakose 1 Girls (1500), Mavhudzi High v Budiriro (1600)
Rhodes Field: Mufakose High 2 Girls v Hatfield (0800), Kuwadzana 2 High v Seke 2 (0900), Herentals College v Mufakose 1 (1000), Victoria High Girls v Dzivaresekwa 2 Girls (1100), Glen View 2 Girls v Mbare High Girls (1200), Zengeza 1 Girls v Harare High Girls (1300), Goromonzi Girls 2nd v Girls High School Girls 2nd (1400), George Stark Girl v Mutetere Girls (1500), Morgan Girls v Zengeza 4 Girls (1600)
