Rugby Africa Cup: Senegal Thrashes Mauritius 63-0

The Senegal rugby team fulfilled on Saturday their mission to book a spot in the group stage of the Rugby Africa Cup 2020. In front of a supportive home crowd the lions dominated mercilessly Mauritius 63-0.

In the group phase of the Rugby Africa Cup 2020 Senegal will now play in Group C playing against Algeria and Uganda.

Senegal set the tone with a penalty goal scored by Mansour Sall in the 5th minute. The host team’s early 3-0 lead gave then place to a battle of attrition with the two teams committing a series of faults. However, Johann Moinet’s team was able to score a couple of tries by Fofana and Moussa Barry, which gave Senegal a 20-0 lead after 28 minutes.

The lions were determined to take the victory and secured their advance before the half-time whistle blew, dominating Mauritius 39-0.

60 minutes into the game Senegal led by, 51-00. The host team kept on displaying offensive skills resulting in securing a 58-0 lead after a try by Pape Alassane Sagna in the 70th minute.

Mamadou Ndiaye sealed the victory 63-0 after racing 70 meters to score a try. The attempt of extending Senegal’s score lead 65-0 was not successful as Mamadou Ndiaye could not convert the try. The fullback’s contribution to his team’s victory and overall performance was rewarded as man of the match.

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“It’s a team victory. We defended well and the local players really played well. It’s a great achievement for the team,” said Senegalese man of the match Mamadou Ndiaye, who plays for the French 3rd division club Lavaur.

For Senegal’s coach Johan Moinet the game was everything, but an easy task for his players: “The first 20 minutes were quite complicated, because we couldn’t find Mauritius’ weak points. Thanks to a shift in our offensive strategy, resulting in hitting their flanks, we changed the game.”

As for the Mauritian coach Raphael Bax, the result is somewhat satisfactory given the lack of experience of his team: “I’m proud of my team. A lot of the players had their international match debut today. Some of the players less experienced with the XV’s rugby, so they are really to be commended.”

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