Botswana takes pride in rugby loss to Senegal

NELSON DIRENG
Correspondent | Thursday June 23, 2011 00:00

 

Gilbert said the team showed a lot of fighting spirit and proved that it has the potential of doing well in their next game against Zambia on Saturday.

 He stated that it may be surprising to say the team did well even though it lost but given the circumstances, the performance was impressive. He said Senegal has several professional players plying their trade in Europe and is ranked 47 in the world, 30 places ahead of Botswana.

'We should consider that our current national team has been together on camp for only a month prior this competition,' he explaied. Gilbert said that the team is playing in a hot and humid environment different from what they are used to in Botswana.

The national team went to camp late under a new coach after the departure of Neal Gouws who was replaced by Ivor Greaves.  Gilbert said this did not prevent the team from giving Senegal a hard time in the second quarter of the game. He said Botswana players were unsettled in the first half, especially because they never had a practice match as a unit before the game.

'The first half ended 23-3 but Botswana came back in the second quarter to score nine points whilst Senegal notched only seven,' he said. Botswana will play Zambia on Saturday in the losers' final while hosts Cameroon take on Senegal in the title decider.

In their first match, Zambia lost to Cameroon by a close 12-10.