Botswana Sevens team out of youth games
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday May 26, 2014 11:23
Misery for the young lads began on Friday when they were hammered 33-7 by Namibia and 19-0 by Tunisia. Botswana played well in the first half against Namibia but faded badly in the second half. Botswana coach, Tosca Segaise told Monitor Sport that the players did their best and played according to instructions.
In the match against Zimbabwe, Botswana’s cause was not helped by injuries to forwards Thabang Mafokate, Tshepo Yane, Emmanuel Molefi and Hlabile Kesegofetse. The quartet was not available for selection in the last match due to the injuries. The absence of the four meant Segaise was left with eight players to pick from.
The coach was forced to change his games plan against Zimbabwe as defenders had to be employed as forwards. Segaise said they came into the Games to gain exposure as coaches and players. He said the Games are a learning curve especially that the sevens which is a new concept in local rugby.
“Botswana Rugby Union (BRU) has also borrowed a leaf from other nations on how to prepare players going forward. Sevens is more of ball handling than contact. The players use a lot of space and that is where skill is needed,” he explained.
He believes that despite the losses, Botswana is on the right track. Segaise said his intention is to continue with the players that he has and groom them into stars. He said it is common cause that he will get other players to increase the pool. Segaise said crashing out of the AYG is not the end of the team. He added that there is no short cut to results.
Segaise stated that the sevens team will have to play more matches to gain experience.