Outback Barbarians coach, Mike Bishop, told SportMonitor that they were in Gaborone as part of the six games tour of Southern Africa, which will see them playing six matches in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. “We have played two games in Cape Town, we also played one game in Kimberley and today we have just played against Hogs. We will then play Zimbabwe Under-20s followed by another match against Livingstone rugby club. We always plan to go on a tour every two years but our plan was affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are now back on track. Outback Barbarians is an invitational team, the players we have are recommended to us. We all met two weeks ago, it takes time for them to bond but we have good players,” he said.
Bishop also said they always pick good rugby players, and when they step into the field, they are respectful to the opposition and the referees. Regarding playing against Hogs, Bishop gave credit to the players saying they are tough and probably Barbarians were a bit flat. “We had to pick scrams in order to get on top of Hogs, defense was good, and attack was good. Moving forward, they should tidy the rug a little bit and they should open their eyes when coming to the rug. Apart from that, the backline was good,” he said.
