It is in Harare that the Malagasy Under-20 selection has won the very popular ticket to Pool A against the Zimbabwean hosts. The match was captivating until the last minute, when the Malagasy took the lead by scoring a try to win the fight, 27 to 25! “I can’t begin to explain how hard the team from Madagascar had to fight for this victory. They played fantastic Rugby! The best health check for any union is the U20 team.” Declared Steph Nel, Rugby Service Manager for Africa from World Rugby, who was present during the tournament in Harare.
This tournament was marked by many mistakes and yellow cards for the Ivorians, the Moroccans and the Malagasy. Even though these errors showed a certain lack of preparation, it mostly showed a real will to fight.
The victory of the Malagasy was unexpected taking in consideration that they lost by 100 points against Zimbabwe last year. "We are happy to have the Group B title this year by beating Zimbabwe at home. It's a revenge against last year's result because Zimbabwe largely beat us on the score. This victory is a great pride for Rugby enthusiasts as well as the Malagasy people and authorities, "said the CEO of the Malagasy federation, Victor-Lié Andriavelomanana.
Another surprise of the tournament was that the Moroccan team were relegated to Pool C after two consecutive losses against the Zimbabweans and Ivorians. Apparently, the Moroccans were not sufficiently prepared for the match against Ivory Coast and it was difficult to manage for the central referee, Victor Oduor.
The tournament will end in Kampala, Uganda where teams from Uganda and Zambia will compete for the first time in a junior tournament. The Ghanaian team has unfortunately cancelled its participation recently.
This competition is also the first since Rugby Africa's recent affiliation with Société Générale, the official partner for the development of rugby in Africa. This represents a real breakthrough for the image of African rugby and, in particular, for rugby played by young people.
Our memories of these two days of matches are of a vibrant festival of African rugby, where nations from the north, south, east and west participated and gave us a glimpse of the high quality game we can expect in the years to come
Results
DAY 1 - April 17, 2019
Zimbabwe vs Ivory Coast: 26 -10
Match Officials:
Central Referee: Zaid Isaacs
Assistant 1: Victor Oduor
Assistant 2: Saudah Adiru
Referee Manager: Johnbosco Muamba (Rugby Africa)
Citing Commissioner: Jerome America
Judicial Officer: Richard Omwela
Match Commissioner: Harry van Niekerk
Morocco vs Madagascar: 65 - 0
Match Officials:
Central referee: Aymen Jriji
Assistant 1: Heykel Bahroun
Assistant 2: Montassar Charfi
Referee Manager: Johnbosco Muamba (Rugby Africa)
Citing Commissioner: Jerome America
Judicial Officer: Richard Omwela
Match Commissioner: Neville Heilbron
DAY 2 - April 20, 2019
Ivory Coast vs Morocco: 38 - 6
Match Officials:
Central Referee: Zaid Isaacs
Assistant 1: Victor Oduor
Assistant 2: Saudah Adiru
Referee Manager: Johnbosco Muamba (Rugby Africa)
Citing Commissioner: Jerome America
Judicial Officer: Richard Omwela
Match Commissioner: Harry van Niekerk
Zimbabwe vs Madagascar: 25 - 27
Match Officials:
Central referee: Aymen Jriji
Assistant 1: Heykel Bahroun
Assistant 2: Montassar Charfi
Referee Manager: Johnbosco Muamba (Rugby Africa)
Citing Commissioner: Jerome America
Judicial Officer: Richard Omwela
Match Commissioner: Neville Heilbron
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Rugby Africa.
