Rédaction Africa Links 24 with lexpress
Published on 2024-03-04 02:43:00
The rugby players of Manjakaray all smiles after their victory in the Madagascar Supercup. The Madagascar Rugby Supercup, organized yesterday to kick off the 2024 rugby season, turned in favor of FT Manjakaray who outperformed Cosfa. Even in the absence of the iconic captain Lahatra Randriamamonjisoa, who was absent from the capital, the Manjakaray FT rugby players got their revenge. They emerged victorious with a score of 38-36 in the Supercup match played yesterday at the Makis Andohatapenaka Stadium against the Cosfa military team.
The military team dominated the first twenty minutes by scoring two successive tries. The first try was scored after ten minutes of play, 7-0, after a missed drop goal attempt by Manjakaray. The efforts of FTM finally paid off with a successful penalty kick to bring the score to 7-3. The second try by the military team came at the fifteenth minute, making it 14-3 for the military team. Stung by this, the Manjakaray players launched a fierce attack, forcing the military team to commit too many penalties that were penalized with a second converted penalty kick, making it 14-6. After the strong moments of the military team, the Manjakaray players found their second wind. They caused a lot of problems for the military team with the speed of their backs. With another penalty kick, Manjakaray closed the gap to 9-14. After thirty-five minutes of play, Jean Christian Yves Niaina Andriamanantenasoa, known as Rabl, the captain of Cosfa, was given a yellow card and had to leave his teammates to play with reduced numbers. An opportunity that FT Manjakaray took advantage of to equalize at 14 all. Revitalized by their strong comeback, the Manjakaray FT rugby players took the lead for the first time. They led 21-14, but before the break, the military team managed to equalize at 21 all, the end of the first half.
Turning point of the match
The beginning of the second half was the turning point of the match with two successive tries by Manjakaray to lead 35-21, after forty-five minutes of play. Panicked, the military team made mistakes due to haste, resulting in turnovers. Encouraged by their coach, Rija Randrianarison, the military team scored their first try of the second half after fifty-two minutes of play, making it 35-26, then 38-26 for FT Manjakaray. Pressed to score, the Cosfa coach brought in fresh legs by introducing Ralaimidona. The team scored two successive tries, but they were not converted. The second turning point of the match came in the 72nd minute with the red card shown to Rabl, the captain of Cosfa. The final score was 38-36 in favor of FT Manjakaray.
Antonio Andrianiaina Rabearison, the coach of FT Manjakaray, did not hide his joy after his team’s victory. “Despite the lack of preparation time, my players fulfilled their mission, which was to avenge the defeat in the Madagascar Cup semifinals against Cosfa. The season is just beginning and we will see what comes next.” As for Rija Randrianarison, the coach of Cosfa, he pointed out that his players “made too many mistakes. In the 78th minute, victory was within our grasp, but if the penalty kick had been converted, victory would have been on our side.”
Read the original article(French) on lexpress.mg
