The game, Vultures' second after beating Matabeleland 32-14 in Selibe-Phikwe recently, was well-attended. The match, which had initially been scheduled to be a preparatory match for the upcoming CAR Six Nations tournament, but was later elevated to test status for the 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifiers, failed to live to its billing. The Swazis played a scrappy game with no shape and seldom attacked or thwarted their opponents' forays upfront. From the onset, the hosts ran all over a hapless Swaziland who only managed to score early in the second half. In fact, the match was far from competitive and definitely not an ideal encounter to use to gauge the team's readiness for the Six Nations. The tournament will be staged in Gaborone on July 22 to 29 and with three weeks to go the team still has ample time to prepare. While the Swazis were easy opponents, Botswana's play was not absolutely satisfactory. Vultures star, Edward Oosthuizen admitted they struggled to maintain structure. "We did play well, but sometimes our play was disrupted, but I think Swaziland played a scrappy game there was no structure," he said. Vultures' coach, Ivor Greaves was happy with his charges' performance and said the friendly international highlighted their weaknesses which they will work on before the start of the tournament. "We have three weeks to go, so there is a lot of time to prepare, but obviously this friendly match has helped highlight some of our weaknesses," Greaves said.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Vincent Mashaya confirmed that they have secured the University of Botswana Stadium as the venue for the tournament. This comes after yet another boost from the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) who chipped in with P300, 000. The Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) has also released 90 percent of the US$59, 000 or (P444,000) funding. The remaining 10 percent is to be released when the tournament starts.
