BRU needs to do more for 7s team
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday April 16, 2022 06:00
For the past few weeks, BRU has organised a series of 7s tournaments. According to the officials, the tournaments were meant to give the team much-needed practice. But the team has emerged battered and bruised. The national team was outplayed and in some matches, they were not even able to score a single try, a huge disappointment for a national team that is on the verge of playing against other nations in Kampala soon. If the friendly results are used as a yardstick, the trip to Kampala is another holiday.
The national team comprises players who have been in the squad for a long time raising concerns over the issue of tired legs. It presents the BRU with the opportunity to build and use young guns in the future. There are suggestions that BRU could have gone an extra mile when making the team selection instead of focusing on Gaborone-based clubs.
There are some players outside Gaborone, talented players who can change the shape of the team. There is BIUST in Palapye, BAC North in Francistown, Phikwe Falcons, and Maun Dogs, which are to play at The Great North Rugby this year. Kyle Macintyre made it into the 15s team, all the way from Maun. Recently, the team travelled to Zimbabwe for the Zambezi Challenge tournament and finished at the bottom. However, national team coach, Kabo Batsile remains hopeful and believes the team will excel in Kampala. “Some of the players have suffered injuries during the tournaments that we played. So we hope when we jet off to Uganda after the Easter Holiday they will be back to shape,” he said.
Batsile admitted that they are going to face strong opponents in Uganda, countries with better rugby structures than Botswana and some did not suspend sport activities during the COVID-19 outbreak. He said players that have been included in the team have been there before and it was difficult to beef up the squad because there was no rugby action for two years. When asked why he only picked players from Gaborone-based clubs, Batsile said rugby is only played in Gaborone. “There are only four active clubs, and they are in Gaborone.
In Selebi-Phikwe we have Under-17 players, Francistown clubs are not active and in Maun, we have the youngsters of Maun Puppies. As for Jwaneng they cannot make the team because of work commitments,” he said. Batsile said even during the 7s tournaments he did not pick any new players. “I expect us to do well, especially in our first match against Madagascar.
I know that they are a running side but I have players who can match that,” he said. Rugby fans are hopeful that in the next assignment, the mother body will give players from other parts of the country an opportunity and avoid a Gaborone selection. "This country is wide and broad, talent is waiting for you out there," one rugby fanatic observed.