THE Sables beat Algeria 29-3 in the Rugby Men’s Africa Cup final to be crowned champions in Kampala, Uganda yesterday.
This is the second time the Sables have laid their hands on the continental trophy with their first triumph coming in 2012 after beating Uganda 22-18 in Tunisia. The Sables turned on the heat in this year’s edition of the Rugby Africa Cup accounting for all the big guns starting off with a 22-20 win against host Uganda in their opening quarterfinal match.
They followed up with a 32-10 hammering of six-time defending champions Namibia in the semifinal before avenging for last tournament’s third place playoff defeat against the Lion Cubs of Algeria.
In yesterday’s match, Zimbabwe raced to a 12-3 lead at the breather with two tries from Trevor Gurwe in the sixth and 28 minutes with Takudzwa Musingwini converting one and missing the second.
Gurwe received a fancy chicken-wing offload from Musingwini completing two dummies before planting his try for the first set of points for Zimbabwe.
The winger then received a killer pass from captain Hilton Mudariki on the blind side and made a dash down the flank for his second whitewash passover.
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However, in between the two tries, Algeria pulled some points on the board through Serge Caminati’s penalty, reducing the deficit to 12-3.
The second half was a laid back affair with both sides sizing each other, but Zimbabwe who thrives on attack from structured rugby waited for the right moment and scored a penalty and two converted tries to wrap up the match as a contest.