Story by Raynald Ngwarati

THE Zimbabwe Under 20 rugby team, the Young Sables, slumped to their second successive loss at the Junior World Trophy after a 51-14 defeat by Uruguay at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya.

One would have hoped for a different outcome when the boys had a flying start, converting two quick tries to take an early lead.

Despite their early dominance, the Young Sables surrendered a 14-point lead in the opening 20 minutes of the game as they headed for a second straight defeat in the Group stage.

Looking a pale shadow of themselves, the boys failed to make the scoreboard tick in the second half, while Uruguay pounced on anything loose to grab a 37-point victory.

Having a previous best finish of seventh position at the tournament, Shaun de Souza’s charges have a tough ask to rewrite history, with their eyes riveted towards their next match.

“It is one of those tough pills to swallow. We had a plan, but we didn’t execute. We ended up running out of steam and the slow start-stop momentum also put us out of the game. We tried too much, we tried to go into contact and contest, which is one of their strengths and it put us on the back foot, and we couldn’t catch up. So yeah, back to the drawing board. We focus on the USA and see what happens in the playoffs,” he said.

The Junior Sables concludes their group stage matches with a clash against the United States of America, before the playoffs, which will determine the reigning African Champions’ final ranking at the tournament.