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Harare Bureau

ZIMBABWE Under-20 rugby team failed in their second attempt to return to the Group A Barthes Cup after they fell to Madagascar on Saturday at Prince Edward High School Jubilee Fields.

Madagascar’s resilience and crafty ball handling skills earned them promotion into the Under-20 Barthes Cup after they broke the hearts of spirited Zimbabwe 25-27. 

The win for Madagascar came off the back on a massive 65-0 rout of Morocco in their opening match to give them the top spot in the Group. 

The Young Sables paid dearly for another slow start, in addition to a series of errors.

By half-time Madagascar led 15-7, but the host came back fighting and led 25-22 five minutes to the end of the match.

Madagascar were rewarded for their vigilance and came back with a runaway try in the final moments. 

Zimbabwe head coach Farai “Bob’’ Mahari lamented his team’s costly errors. 

“A slow start in the first half affected us and we will have to review what went wrong. 

“We made mistakes and they punished us for it and at this level decent teams will punish you. So, yes, it was mistakes, mistakes, mistakes. 

“You can never fault the energy of the boys, they wanted to play but they were probably not doing the right things in the right places,” said Mahari 

Morocco will be relegated from Group B after losing 38-6 to Cote d’Ivoire to finish at the bottom of the log.  

Group B Results Summary

17 April Zimbabwe 26-10 Cote d’Ivoire

17 April Madagascar 65-0 Morocco

20 April Cote d’Ivoire 38-6  Morocco 

20 April Zimbabwe 25-27 Madagascar