Lady Sables lose to Uganda

By Trevor Makonyonga


The Zimbabwe Ladies Rugby national team, Lady Sables, suffered a massive loss at the hands of the Uganda Lady Cranes 41-00 in a match played on Wednesday at Kyadondo Rugby Stadium in Kampala.


Zimbabwe never had it going from the onset with the Ugandans appearing to be tactically, mentally and physically stronger than Zimbabwe.


The Ugandans were bulldozing through the Zimbabweans in almost every aspect in the game.


They were strong on the mauls, had a dominant scrum, contested rucks and were better disciplined on set pieces.


Zimbabwe on the other hand lacked discipline with possession recording many turning overs and also the support on attack was lacking especially in the second half.


It seemed fatigue creeped in and the girls ended up playing without purpose.


In a post match interview with Bustop TV, Zimbabwe coach Munya Mhonda said that the girls suffered from “mental/emotional issues behind the scenes.”


He said, “There was a lot of mental/emotional issues behind the scenes and 2 starting players (Faith Mhungira and Wadzanai Chidawa) were not allowed to play due to a delay with their covid results which were meant to have been done an hour before kickoff.”


Asked whether the heat in Uganda played out in the match and also if the physical form of the Cranes had an impact on the outcome of the match, the coach said that the team lost it psychologically.


Mhonda said, “The weather was good and there wasn’t much difference between the two teams. The team lost it psychologically. We were allowed to use two players siting COVID-19 concerns. Which were only cleared after the game.”


The two teams will play again on Sunday in the second test at the same venue.