25 May 2014

The Under-18 team suffered a meltdown before finishing last as the Gaborone 2014 African Youth Games rugby tournament ended on Saturday, May 24.

The rugby tournament had attracted seven countries and was played in the sevens format at the UB Stadium.

Coach Kabo Batsile’s team rounded off a horrible campaign by suffering a comprehensive 33-0 loss to Madagascar in the Bowls semifinals.

They settled for the lowly Bowls competition after finishing last in Pool B following defeats to Namibia (33-7), Tunisia (33-0) and Zimbabwe (52-0) on Friday May 23.

Madagascar bossed the semifinal and wrapped up a simple victory with five tries by centre Jean Robson Falinawana (2), prop Hery Zhino, fly-half Faniry Lovatuina and winger Franklin Rabenarivo.

Four of those tries were accurately converted by Falinawana, Zhino and scrum-half Omarie Hajaniaina.

Botswana were so overwhelmed that they barely threatened the opposition try line.

Batsile said his team crumbled under pressure because they couldn’t handle the speed from their opponents.

“We committed a lot of mistakes and when you make mistakes you are under pressure for most of the match,” said the coach, who explained that their target was to at least reach the Bowls final.

“Our players were lacking some basics and we should give them more exposure to improve.

They should player at least 20 matches per year to improve. At the beginning they couldn’t complete three passes but they were beginning to get better,” said Batsile.

South Africa was meanwhile crowned champions after routing Kenya 60-0 in a one-sided final.

Zimbabwe settled for third position after beating Namibia 22-14 in the Plate final, which was contested by the two semifinal losers in the main cup.

Madagascar finished fifth after defeating Tunisia 7-5 in the Bowls final. ENDS