Arusha, 28 October : The Tanzanian National Team, the Twigas, pulled of a stunning victory on Saturday when they beat Reunion by 11 points to 10 at the Friedkin Recreation Ground in the semi-final of the CASTEL trophy, the Confederation of African Rugby’s Second Division Championship. The victory qualifies Tanzania for the final of the trophy, which will be played against Nigeria or the Niger, the date, and semi-final has yet to be finalised.
Although they had to fly from Reunion to Tanzania via Madagascar to Nairobi followed by a six-hour road trip, Reunion still started the match as overwhelming favourites against a side, which has only been playing international rugby for only two-and-half years now. Reunion’s forwards had complete control in the scrums and struggled to win any ball from this set phase. Against the run of play though the Twigas took the lead through a penalty from captain and scrum half Mike Beckner.
Reunion went into the lead after a free kick close to Tanzania’s line. Hooker Hendrick Cavalee Lebon bulldozed his over for the visitors to take a 5-3 lead. Poor kicking let Reunion down as the missed conversion and two failed penalty attempts could have put them in a more commanding position. Late in the half captain Jerome Gauthier, who only arrived in Arusha the previous night, scored Reunion’s second try.
Leading 10-3 at the break Reunion looked to dominate the second half but the altitude and a tenacious effort by Tanzania prevented them from adding to their score. Beckner succeeded with a second penalty to close the gap to four points, with three minutes remaining the inspirational scrum half managed to get quick ball to his back-line, test debutante Josh Petersen ran into some space and timed his pass to Aard Koster to perfection. Koster scored in the corner. Beckner could not slot the conversion but it didn’t matter as Tanzania held on for a historic victory. Celebrations in Arusha lasted deep into the night.
The match was also a huge milestone for hooker Ben Wiggins and utility back Tom Halloran who both gained their tenth cap for Tanzania. They are the only two players who have played in all of Tanzania’s ten matches. The Confederation of Africa is expected to name the date of the final within the next week .