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Raymond Jaravaza, Sports Correspondent
FALCON College proved their status as a powerhouse not only in Matabeleland but also in the country after seven of their players were selected in the Zimbabwe provisional squad in national trials held at Lomagundi College last weekend.

Simbarashe Maringa, Cleopas Kundiona, Stuart Dodington, Benjamin Meredith, Matthew McNab, Nqobisile Ncube and Peter Davis all made it into the 32-member Zimbabwe provisional squad that is preparing for the Craven Week, in South Africa, in July.

The provisional squad will be further trimmed to 23 for the final travelling party.

An ecstatic Matabeleland Under-19 coach and Falcon College director of sport Brenda French said the number of players selected at the national trials is testimony that the game is improving in the region.

“The region is improving but it will be very difficult to push forward without decent facilities to train on. At Falcon, we spend a lot of time on the basics of rugby. This is an area that the whole country needs to improve on. We also work hard on our conditioning and try to be as fit and strong as we possibly can. The boys put a lot of extra time into the trials,” said French.

The 53rd edition of the Craven Week will be hosted in the province of KwaZulu Natal in South at Kearsney College- a private school situated about 40KM from the Durban city centre – from July 11- 16.

Zimbabwe has performed badly at the past two editions of the U-18 Craven Week and have been handed the first fixture of the tournament on the morning of Monday July 11.

The last time Zimbabwe won a game at the Craven Week was on July 10, 2013 when they bashed the Limpopo Blue Bulls 43-5.

The 2013 squad included Brendon Mandivenga, Rukudzo Gona and Stephen Bhasera who also pursued rugby after high school.

The Craven Week is an annual schoolboys’ rugby tournament organised by the South African Rugby Union (SARU) and was first played in July 1964.