23 Jun 2014

Vultures, the national rugby team, failed to get promotion to 1 B during a final completion staged in Gaborone on June 21.

Although they performed well against Zambia beating them 66-14, that was not enough for the Vultures given that only a big margin could have saved them. 

Mauritius had beaten Swaziland 134-0; therefore for the Vultures to have won the tournament they had to score at least 71-0 which proved to be a mammoth task for ‘Manong’. 

Mauritius finished on position one thus gaining 1C promotion, although South African Impala never lost any game in the tournament, they could not be graded as they appeared as guest team after Morocco had failed to honor the competitions.

It was the same Impala that spoiled the Vultures party on Wednesday 18 after beating them 54-9, and, had the Vultures won all their three games they could have bounced back to a higher league after relegating for only one year.

However, it’s worth mentioning that in their last game against Zambia, the Vultures showed aggression as they managed to score more tries and easily scored their conversation.

The local lads looked very dangerous as they moved forward, and their defence was always on the alert denying Zambia free movement to the finish line.

Some rugby pundits thought that the Vultures could have achieved a higher margin if they did not lack urgency, more especially after scoring. Even with the time not on their side, they looked more relaxed and took their time to place the ball, observes have thought.

After the game, the Vultures coach, Ivor Greaves, told BOPA that despite failing to qualify, he was happy his men staged a brilliant performance in their last game.

“The only flaw in the tournament was against Impala; my team did not execute well against the Impala game, but I am happy today they managed to resuscitate,” he said.

He commended Zambia for giving his side a very good game, saying from there they were going to work very hard since they had a programme to follow.

Greaves said there were more games coming and they would play at least three games between now and October; therefore they would put the team together in their effort to rectify their slip-up.

“There is no doubt that with more exposure, the team can go somewhere, I am very happy with their performance. Look, Zambia played a fantastic rugby game on the day, but the boys managed to contain them,” he pointed out.

Mauritius finished on position One, after scoring a total of 205 points and conceding 78; followed by Botswana scoring 162, conceding 68; Nigeria took position three after conceding 126 and managing to score 91 points.

On position four was Zambia with 61 points and 140 conceded, while on position five was Swaziland, which lost all their games with a big margin scoring only 10 and conceding 282. ENDS