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Paul Munyuki Sports Reporter
Prince Edward Tigers . . . . . . . . 3 (6)
Independent Schools . . . . . . . . (5) 26
ENGLAND Independent Schools continued with their unbeaten run in their inbound rugby tour of Zimbabwe when they got the better of Prince Edward School 26-6 at Harare Sports Club yesterday.

All the hosts could afford were two penalties against four tries from the English, who had a 75 percent conversion rate scoring three of their four attempts from the bonus point situation.

Prince Edward’s penalties came from flyhalf Gilford Muzeya, who struggled with his boot after missing a total of six penalties that could have translated into 18 more points for the Tigers but it was not to be his day in windy conditions.

Two of his misses came in the first half and it was at the third attempt that Muzeya got it right, responding to a Jack Williams’ 15th minute try on the left corner but his effort was not supported by the boot of Ollie Glasse.

Prince Edward could have gone into the break with a four-point advantage but the kicking was not accurate and had the Tigers slotted all their penalties throughout the game, they could have been two points shy of a draw against the Barbarians.

But it was not to be as the Tigers, who matched the Barbarians play for play in the first half, were tight in defence and sharp going forward but they were not good enough to keep their ball alive.

Most of the time the Tigers lost the ball at the point of contact in the Independent Schools 22-yard box, there were quite a number of turned over balls and Prince Edward could not utilise the penalties, even the ones they kicked out for touch, to their advantage.

And the Barbarians took advantage. Twenty-one minutes into the second period, winger Will Porter was set up by second half substitute Ben Christe off a turned-over ball, making a 30-metre sprint to plant in the Tigers in-goal.

A change of kicker to another second half substitute Charles Morgan helped them take a 12-3 lead.
Three minutes later Muzeya managed only his second and final spot kick that saw Prince Edward reduce the arrears, still trailing 12-6, and this was also the last time the hosts’ score ticked.

But it was in the last six minutes of the game, following wholesale changes to the starting XV, that the Barbarians really took control of matters and the introduction of seven new players by manager Alex Laybourne killed the game as a contest.

Two tries for the Barbarians came in the last three minutes with captain and eighthman Patrick Marmion touching down with just two minutes of play remaining after a pick and go from five-metre scrum while another substitute Elliot Roofe added the final nail on the coffin. Tiger’s manager Sebastian Garikai believes it was largely the points they missed from the dead ball situation that made the difference.

“It was a blessing for us that Harare were not able to come up with a side and it was good, especially for the boys, that they got to play a touring side, it’s still pre-season and that got us to prepare more as we got more game time,” said Garikai.

Teams
Prince Edward: J. Makoni, B. Musendarudzi, W. Nyangani, B. Nyahude, G. Mangenje, E. Chiota, N. Mpofu, K. Ndoro, E. Mudzengerere, G. Muzeya, T. Mataramusha, F. Chikukwa, W. Mugomeza, B. Mabhenge, S. Katsvere, S. Makarawa.
Independent Schools: J. Edwards, A. Hamilton, G. Snowball, J. Williams, H. Dodds, N. Gilbertson, A. Dunham, P. Marmion (captain),  S. Rossiter, O. Glasse, W. Potter, J. Tinker, J. Allan, J. Olejuyami, T. Jones.