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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter 

THE Junior Sables will wrap up their stay in Canada with a match against Chile this afternoon and will be aiming for a strong finish at the ongoing Canada International Rugby Series. 

The four-team competition features hosts Canada, Zimbabwe, Uruguay and Chile. 

Zimbabwe has been invited to participate at the Canada International Rugby Series, a tournament organised by World Rugby for the sole purpose of giving next year’s Junior World Rugby Trophy participants much-needed game time.

After dispatching hosts Canada 34-24 during the opening encounter, Zimbabwe went on to lose 35-12 to Uruguay. 

They will wrap up the campaign with a tie against Chile this afternoon. 

“We have picked up lessons from the two games we have played. Our target now is to get a second place finish. The tournament organisers will have the tournament table after today’s games but a win today will place us in a good position to finish in second place. 

“As the rugby union we are glad the boys are getting game time which is the whole purpose of this competition,” said Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) vice-president Martin Shone.

The Junior Sables have been boosted by the arrival of some players that had encountered visa problems prior to their departure last week. 

Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) vice president Martin Shone

These include Tawanda Banda, Nqobile Manyara, Simbarashe Siraha, Liberty Sibanda and Brendan Marume.

The Junior Sables have had a good year after they won the Barthes Trophy U20 tournament in Kenya in April. 

The young Zimbabweans managed to get the grail after winning their three matches without tasting defeat.

The Junior Sables defeated Tunisia (19-18) and Madagascar (32-03) in the semi-finals, before beating arch-rivals Namibia (19-14) in the final. — @innocentskizoe