Ngoni Dapira

THE Mutare Sports Club (MSC) under-21 side will take on Hatcliffe tomorrow (Saturday) at Old Hararians Sports Club in their third match of the 2019 U-21 Harare League that kicked off last month.

The match kicks off at 2pm.

The U-21 Harare League kicked off on January 26 with two teams joining the league, MSC and Chitungwiza’s Southern City. This year’s league therefore now comprises of 16 teams dived into two groups A and B, which respectively comprise of the defending champions Pitbulls, XP Horns, Chitungwiza, University of Zimbabwe (UZ), MSC, Harare Sports Club (HSC), Mufakose and Hatcliffe, whilst Group B includes Alex Sports Club, Ancient City, Mabvuku, Mbare Select, Old Georgians (OGs), Old Hararians (OH), Southern City and Yadah.

The Mutare born and bred international rugby player Ngoni Chibuwe (red top with ball) and Mutare Sports Club senior rugby team player Tino Nyawasha (blue t-shirt) taking the junior side through their paces on Monday.

The junior Shumbas (MSC) started off the league on a slow note after a 12-40 defeat to UZ. The side coached by the veteran coach and Hillcrest College sports director Chris Mhike, however regrouped to make a comeback last Saturday when they won 12-5 against XP Horns at Belgravia Sports Club. XP Horns who were on home turf had come in as favourites after having thrashed Mufakose 96-0 in their season opener. The match went into halftime with no tries but action came in the second half where the junior Shumbas eventually won the match after placing two tries courtesy of Jones Deza.

Last week’s victory placed the Mutare junior side on fifth place on the log with four points leading through goal aggregate. The defending champions Pitbulls, which comprises mostly of Churchill High old boys and junior players, will hope to finish this year’s season triumphantly with another white wash feat after ending last season indomitable. With two victories already in their first matches the Pitbulls sit on top of the log with 10 points, followed by XP Horns (6), Chitungwiza (5), UZ (5), MSC (4), HSC (4), Mufakose (4) and Hatcliffe (0).

The 2019 U-21 Harare League log standing after last weekends fixtures.

In Group B, OGs leads the pack on goal aggregate with 10 points followed by Southern City (10), OH (10), Mabvuku (5), Alex Sports Club (5), Ancient City, Mbare Academy and Yadah in that order with no points on the board.

MSC rugby chairman Moss Kapumha said he was happy to participate in this year’s league after failing to participate in last year’s league. He said as usual they are aiming high to leave a mark regardless of being debutants, and end the league in the top four. Kapumha added that they are in the process of grooming a women’s rugby side and next year intend to join the Harare women’s rugby league running concurrently with the junior league this year. He added that already they have a campaign programme for the women’s rugby which they are taking to schools, higher learning institutions and in the high density suburbs.

“As a club through our stakeholders we mobilised school fees money for  10 Sahumani High School girls as a way to encourage them to keep playing the game. The Honde Valley based girls made headlines in 2017 at the Dairibord Schools Rugby Festival and we don’t want it to end there. We will keep looking out for them and incorporate them in our club rugby side for more exposure. We are also helping out our junior boys rugby players that come from struggling backgrounds with school fees bursaries. We started with Nyasha Chikadzakuwanani a Form three student that we assisted with his school fees at St Dominics High School last year and this term as well. We intend to do this more as we believe we are a family and charity should begin at home,” said the MSC rugby chairman.

Nyasha Chikadzakuwanani (with ball) one of the beneficiaries of the MSC outreach arm in action.

He added that they were still approaching companies for a pinnacle sponsor as it is hard mobilising funds each week for the many away fixtures they have in the Harare league which has 15 other teams.

“It has been tough raising funds for the Under-21’s and it is mostly Mutare Sports Club old boys, some parents of the players and individual rugby enthusiasts that have been chipping in to help meet the travel expenses and lunch for the youngsters. Most of our fixtures if not all will be in Harare so we really need help and we are still looking for a pinnacle sponsor. This league is a feeder for the Under 20 national side and it gives our youngsters exposure, so we need to keep participating in it,” said Kapumha.

On another note, the senior Shumbas side will also be travelling tomorrow for a Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) pre-season fixture against the Chitungwiza based side Southern City which will be played at 1pm at Seke High 1. The Shumba’s ended the 2018 Harare league on fourth position behind the league champions Harare Sports Club, followed by Old Georgians and Old Hararians.