Eastern Gunners fail to maintain momentum

NELSON DIRENG
Correspondent | Wednesday December 22, 2010 00:00

 

Last year, the Selebi/Phikwe-based Eastern Gunners became the first Northern side to win the BRU league, displacing perennial champions Gaborone Hogs.

However, their hopes of retaining the title were dashed by bitter rival, Hogs, who came back a stronger side, finishing the season with only one loss. University of Botswana (UB) Rhinos had hoped to lift the title after finding themselves in the final for the first time in more than five years. They faced Hogs in a tough derby and lost by a narrow 23-20 walking away with the silverware. Rugby giants, the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Cheetahs who last lifted the title in 2007 ended fourth.

This season the league featured eight teams with two debutants - Thebephatswa Desert Whales and Ghanzi Hungry Lions who were approved prior to the league. Much was expected from the Lions who for a long time displayed high quality rugby. This is because the team has been around for a while and some of its members have played in South Africa.

However, both Whale and Lions were no match for most of the teams losing most of their fixtures and forfeiting some. Lions and Whales ended the season seventh and eighth, respectively. Recurrent losers Francistown Tuskers were given a break from finishing last ending the season on position six.

The National Sevens and 15s teams participated in a number of regional competitions and friendlies this year.The highlights was when the 15s side participated in the newly-formulated Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) Four Nations' tournament in Zimbabwe whilst the Sevens participated in the CAR Castle International Sevens Tournament played in Zambia. Both teams' performances were below par; a factor attributed to the fact that the new squad comprises mostly new players. 'We had a setback especially in the CAR tournament because the team consists of new and inexperienced players,' said national team coach Neal Gouws. Players like Tefo Keothepile, Gilbert 'Mahindra' Machobane and Kaone Gopolang have been missing in action due to injuries. Nevertheless, the national team was fortunate enough to be sponsored with three new kits from Orange Botswana, the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) and Blue Botswana. The women's national rugby team also got a boost from the Botswana Insurance Company (BIC) as the first technical sponsor. They also performed in the CAR Castle International Sevens tournament. Their biggest achievement was winning silverware in the Plate final of the Blue Bulls Sevens held in South Africa last month.

Meanwhile, the BRU and Hogs clashed because Hogs' management refused to allow star players Eddie Oosthuizen and Molebi Maphanyane to participate in the CAR Castle International Sevens tournament. Hogs apparently refused to release the duo because they wanted to send their club to the tournament. The club had allegedly felt that if the national team was made up of citizens only, it would compromise its quality and thus it was better to send their own team for better results.

Hogs' plans to field a team in Lusaka were however shot down after the BRU denied them in Zambia. However, the BRU in conjunction with the Gaborone Rugby Football Club (GRFC) took the Tlamelo Vultures to the United Kingdom (UK) to participate in a week- long biennial Caldy International Under-13 Rugby Club's Touraid Festival in September. The Tlamelo Vultures are a group of disadvantaged children from the Tlamelo Trust for Orphans and Vulnerable Children based in Old Naledi. Both the BRU and GRFC have said they would like this to be an annual event. Children absorbed into this programme also have an opportunity of joining the mini-Hogs development club free of charge.

The GRFC meanwhile invited former Springboks captain, John Smit to Botswana for the annual fund-raising dinner in October. Smit was here as the guest of honour for the event and had also come to assess Tlamelo Vultures' progress.