Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
RICKY CHIRENGENDE and his Cheetahs may have avoided the big guns in the opening rounds of the Africa Cup Rugby Sevens tournament which starts in Mauritius tomorrow but the Zimbabwe coach is keeping one eye fixated on the fixtures involving South Africa, Kenya and Uganda.
Zimbabwe are in Group C of the June 21-22 tourney alongside hosts Mauritius, Tunisia and Madagascar.
Kenya have been placed in Group A together with defending champions Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana while Group B features HSBC Sevens World Champions South Africa, who will compete against Burkina Faso, Zambia and Nigeria.
“Yes, we may have avoided Uganda and South Africa but I think for us to win the competition, we are going to need to beat one of South Africa, Uganda and Kenya.
“And, this is going to be a tough ask for us.
“Day two is going to be where our mettle will be tested and the boys’ fitness and body adaptability too. The four nations — South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe — make up the continents’ top seven playing nations and each goes into the tournament with different goals and targets. For South Africa, it will merely be a chance for them to give their development crop a good run at competitive sevens rugby.
Uganda will want to defend their title and prove that last year’s win was no fluke.
For Kenya, on the other hand, it will be more about redemption.
The Kenya Morans head into the tournament hoping to reclaim the continental title, which carries added weight as the top two teams will secure promotion to the Sevens Division 3 as part of World Rugby’s newly introduced Sevens structure.
In last year’s tournament, Kenya made a dismal showing, finishing sixth in both legs of the 2024 edition.
Zimbabwe carry similar ambitions to finish in the top two and reclaim a title they last won back in 2012.
They arrived in Mauritius yesterday, with Chirengende taking his team through their paces at the match venue, Labourdonnais Sports Grounds
“The journey was good,” said the Cheetahs coach.
“Obviously, it was a bit long with a six-hour layover in Nairobi, Kenya, but everything else went smoothly.
“We got to Mauritius around five in the morning, took a bit of a rest and then had a flash-out session.
“It was a light session to get the bodies and muscles moving again, decompress the spine and get the boys ready for the competition,” he said.
The Cheetahs are going to have the standard captains’ run today after which Chirengende plans to have a team meeting and strategise.
“I think we are in a relatively good group,” he said.
“It is a mix of tough and unpredictable opposition.
“Madagascar, at this stage, are probably the top-ranked African side.
“We saw what they did at the Challenger Series where they performed better than Uganda and they managed to get a few upsets.
“They have had some good preparations playing at the top level and will certainly be tough to get over.
“Tunisia are always dark horses; you never know what turns up.
“Mauritius, playing at home, are obviously going to try to upset us.
“They are going to have the full support of their fans and I know they have been getting a bit of help from South Africa.
“We just need to be sharp in all our games,” he said.
