Story by Raynald Ngwarati
THE Zimbabwe Under 20 Rugby team, the Junior Sables have revived their Rugby Africa Barthes Cup campaign after thumping Tunisia 78-20 in their second match of the 2025 campaign at Old Hararians Sports Club this Wednesday.
High stakes are on offer in the Barthes Cup third round slated for this Sunday after the Junior Sables renewed their title ambitions with an impressive fightback from a defeat in the first match to put on a big score in the second.
Eyeing a third Barthes Cup in four years, the Zimbabwe youth rugby team showed their ambitions from the get-go scoring three tries in the opening 18 minutes to leave Tunisia stranded early in the tie.
Tunisia were left for dead as the Junior Sables took a 50-nil lead going to the break, with tries from Shammah Jackson and back-rower Nyasha Ngwarati to mention only a few, creating the daylight between the hosts and the North Africans.
After the restart, Jackson got his hat-trick as the Junior Sables scored two tries in two minutes, making it 64-nil in favour of Zimbabwe.
Fatigue, however, caught up with the lads in the closing stages as unforced errors brought the North Africans back in the game, scoring three late tries to put 20 past Zimbabwe as the match ended 78-20.
The Junior Sables will be counting on their 60-point advantage earned from the match as they will be back again in the hunt this Sunday taking on the defending champions, Kenya Under 20 at the same venue in a winner-takes-all affair.
Having a similar record in terms of games won and games lost so far this campaign, Kenya’s Chipu are expected to put on a show as they are also eyeing a ticket to the final, meaning Zimbabwe cannot afford to slip up if they’re to make it all the way.
The Chipu lost 22-32 to Namibia in the opening match of this Wednesday’s action, as Namibia picked up their second victory on the trot to put one foot into the final.
