This will be the first time that a South African ladies 15s side will be touring Zimbabwe at Under-20 level
This will be the first time that a South African ladies 15s side will be touring Zimbabwe at Under-20 level.
The conception of having a bilateral sporting arrangement is an attribute to consistent competitive performances by Zimbabwe’s Under-18 girls teams at the South Africa Youth Weeks for the past four years.
In 2015 the Zimbabwe under-18 won two out of three matches and came fourth overall out of 60 teams, the next year they moved one level up and were ranked third.
The team then proceeded to give a sterling performance in 2017 winning three games and earning a well-deserved second place ranking.
Last year the girls dropped one place from second back to third ranking after winning two out three matches.
Head Coach Nsikelelo Sibanda who has coached the Under-18 side will be in charge of the Under-20 team slated to host South Africa.
He believes that the girls will continue to make strong impressions in Africa and this will build up to greater competitions.
“As a result of our performances South Africa Rugby Union (SARU) saw it fit that we start building our Under-20 sides along with them. They were looking for the best possible competition in Africa and they settled for Zimbabwe basing on the performance of the under-18 girls.”
“This is a historic moment for us as we are building up our women’s rugby and hopefully we will be playing 15s test rugby against them at senior level as well as Under-20 level,” said Sibanda.
Prior to the bilateral series, some of the Under-20 girls in the Under-18 side will travel to Jeppe Boys High in Johannesburg for this years edition of the SARU Youth Weeks from the 17th to the 21st of June.
Zimbabwe will be the main feature on the opening day of the youth week, the team is scheduled to face Kwazulu-Natal at 15:40 hrs on the 18th of June 2019.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU).
