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Mbachi Mutukula-Maregere Harare Bureau
THE curtain came down on the Dairibord Schools Rugby Festival in style as St George’s defeated Churchill 24-21 in a tough match at Prince Edward School on Saturday.

Fullback Tarisai Mapfumo and lock Ross Pechey were the two players who were issued yellow cards.

St George’s sports director, Mini Macdonald, said he was impressed by his team’s display.

“The festival was good, I was really impressed by the boys. It was difficult to have two of our players getting yellow cards but that did not put off the other players,” said Macdonald.

“They continued with a fine run. We were under a lot of pressure but we won just at the right time.

“The boys had good defence as well and good passes.”

Augus Bruce scored the first try for St George’s while Tafadziswa Bhunu, Tarisai Mapfumo and Russell Biyasam also contributed to the team’s triumph.

Churchill will be trying to figure out what went wrong this year as they failed to win at this year’s festival.

Churchill assistant coach Bob Mahari said his team did not live to expectations.

“There is a lot of tradition and culture at Churchill, and a lot of success, and the pressure is high and these young men, we are educating them.

“In sport you need ball possession.

“In the game against Prince Edward, we defended well but they were hungry for the game and we lost it.

“In our last match against St George’s we didn’t do well, every three to five minutes we were conceding a try and whenever this happens you will be on the back foot.

“Our boys were learning and this is pre-season so we are sure they will get there once the season starts,” said Mahari.