26 Feb 2023

Botswana rugby national team, Vultures, trounced eSwatini 111-3 at the Wharic Park grounds on Saturday.

In their first test match on home soil since 2014, the Vultures signalled their intent from the word go with four tries in the first half and penalty conversion by fly-half Brandon Van Zyl to give the home side a lead going to the half time break.

On one hand, eSwatini had their chances in the first half when fly-half Menzi Mamba opened the scoring through well-placed penalty kick from distance that gave his side the only points of the day.

Led by captain Tafadzwa Ncube, the Vultures boasted a mixture of youthful debutants and experienced campaigners in their 23-man squad.

 The youth and experience combination came to the fore to secure the team’s first triumph of the year.

Holding a 33-point margin at halftime, the home side experience was on display as they punished eSwatini’s forwards twice during a 10-minute span at the start of the second half to push the result beyond doubt with four consecutive tries by fullback Ben Strauss.

With the full backing of home supporters, the Vultures soared even higher in the second half keeping their opponents at bay and away from their try line.

The Vultures dominated the game in all aspects that were decided by hard-running outside backs who traded tries in the second half.

The Vultures lifted the tempo and started to control the game deep in the dying minutes, gaining territory with ease through some silky play that backed eSwatini into their own half.

The Vultures’ powerful scrum chewed up the eSwatini set-piece on several occasions, including securing a clean tight-head, both Allan Jones and Oarabile Chiche at tight-head and loose-head prop positions impressed with their strength and awareness around the rucks and the decision-making in the clutch moments was impressive.

Marshalled by hooker Mpho Raditlopi, the Vultures defence mirrored the eSwatini threats with the ball, as they shut out their opponents to keep them scoreless in the second half.

In a post-match interview, Vultures coach, Ivor Greeve, credited his side for a spirited performance despite having limited preparation time since the league was still on recess.  “It was an impressive victory, though it felt like pre-season for the team since the league will only start in March,” he said.

Greeve said he was hopeful to build on the day’s performance and call the team to camp every three weeks for combination play and other technical drills.

For his part, eSwatini head coach, David Forster expressed disappointment at the results and commended the Vultures for the outstanding performance.

“We were definitely second best in the game and credit to Botswana national team for producing such great spectacle of rugby. Clearly their fitness was a lot better than ours hence could not keep up with their scrums,” Forster said.  Despite the defeat, Forster said there was a lot learnt during the game and would that in their preparation for the next encounter.  ENDS