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Rugby Africa Repechage Pool A Tournament: Zambia First to Qualify for the Finals

The first Group A repechage semi-final between Zambia and Ghana took place this morning at the Jammel stadium under bright sunshine and in front of an average crowd in Tunis, Tunisia.

The clash between the Zambian Copper Eagles and the Ghanaian Eagles was a high-voltage affair, with the latter getting off to a flying start and taking just three minutes to open the scoring, After a scrum on the 22-yard line, the Zambian defense stopped a first try on the line before opener Francis Mensah-Donkor turned the game over on the opposite side to find three-quarter-center Abdul Jaulu Yussif (14), who scored the first try of the match and of the tournament, 5-0 for Zambia.
 
Despite a timid initial reaction from Zambia, it was the Ghanaians who came back to score a second try in the 15th minute, a try almost identical to the first, but this time Yussif’s first try from wide after a scrum was conclusive. The unconverted try gave the Ghanaian Eagles a ten-point lead, 10-0.
 
Four minutes after this second try, a penalty on the left-hand side sounded the Zambian revolt, and after the kick off, opener David Koloko (10) set up full-back Alex Mwewa (15), who flattened the ball in the corner, Koloko converting 10-7.
 
In the 23rd minute, Zambian third-row center Emock Mutembo quickly handles a penalty 10 meters from the line and passes to second-rower Thomas Mwakenja, who scores the second try, converted by the reliable Koloko 14-10 for the Copper Eagles, who take the lead for the first time in the match.
 
Ghana’s reaction was swift, forcing the Zambians into their own 22, but they were able to hold out well. Better still, Koloko kicked a 60-meter counter-attack which he finished off himself between the Ghanaian posts. The try was converted by Mwewa to give his side an 11-point lead at the end of the first half, 21-10.
 
The start of the second half was rather scrappy on both sides before the Zambian pack imposed its strength and, following a scrum 15 metres from the Ghanaian in-goal, third-row Roger Mukupa (8) took advantage of his forwards’ push to score Zambia’s fourth try, a try again converted by opener David Koloko 28-10.
 
And despite a last gasp Ghanaian try in the final minute from Lukman Yaya (8), converted by replacement opener Kofi Appiah (22), the match remained locked at 31-22 and the Zambians booked first place in Sunday’s final, while awaiting their opponent in the day’s second semi-final between Tunisia and Nigeria, which kicks off at 14:00.
 
Written by Houssem Gharad