Botswana’s national rugby team, the Vultures, say they have been taught a valuable lesson on how to prepare well ahead of international friendly games.
This came after they learned it the hard way in Potchefstroom, where they represented the country in a series of disappointing 7-a-side friendly games last week.
In the men’s tournament, the Vultures managed to trounce South Africa’s Blue Bulls 12-10 in the opening game.
However in another game, they were walloped 22-5 by another South African team, the Falcon’s, who are otherwise called Valke in Afrikaans.
At a later stage, the Botswana team was once again trampled over by another South African side, the Leopards, who won 19-7. This was followed by a 29-17 walloping by the Free State provincial team.
In the shield final friendly games, which were still 7-a-side, the Vultures went on to suffer defeat at the hands of the Puma’s who trounced them 24-7.
In the ladies 7-a-side category, the Leopards embarrassingly walloped the Vultures 22-0 in what was a classic walkover.
But the female Vultures picked up and dusted themselves after that humiliating defeat. The ladies bounced back and walloped Lions 12-0 in a very impressive game of revenge.
In the semi finals the Blue Bullsdefeated the Vultures 17-7 in their second consecutive game of the 7-a-side. In the losers’ final, the Botswana team lost 17-14, falling behind with only 3 points to clinch a podium finish.
Vultures head coach, Seabe Gabatsadiwe, said compared to their last friendly games in Pretoria, their performance has somehow improved when comparing those results to the latest results from Potchefstroom.
“We fell out in the semi finals this time around, and our losses weren’t as embarrassing and humiliating as before, so we remain confident about our game despite our loss,” he said.
