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Mehluli Sibanda in Cape Town, South Africa
AFTER weeks of preparation, the Zimbabwe Cheetahs get into battle at the Rugby World Cup Sevens when they face Canada in a pre-round of 16 fixture at the Cape Town Stadium this morning.
The Cheetahs have been in South Africa for over a week and yesterday they had their final training session at the University of Cape Town as coach Graham Kaulback got final one more last time before the team heads into battle.
Zimbabwe’s match against Canada is actually the second fixture on the opening day, with Ireland and Portugal to set the ball rolling.
Should Zimbabwe win the match against Canada, they go on to face off against France but defeat for the Cheetahs will see them facing whoever loses between Hong Kong and Uruguay.
It will not be an easy fixture against the Canadians. What makes the match interesting is that Canada have in their team Matthew Owuru, a lad who in 2018 captained the Zimbabwe Under-18 team at the Academy Week in Paarl, just a stone’s throw away from the venue of today’s encounter.
Kaulback stated that all their focus was on that
“We are looking at the first game against Canada it’s all we thinking about at the moment and planning for, its all and everything against Canada and whatever happens after that, we will address it after it happens but its all focus on Canada,” declared Kaulback.
The Zimbabwean team is full of young talent after the Zimbabwe Rugby Union decided a year ago to go for younger players. Even though that decision was disapproved by some within the rugby circles, the team impressed at the final Olympics qualifier held in Monaco last year and went on to secure qualification for the Rugby Sevens World Cup.
A last-minute change was made to the team after Jafnos Chiwanza, the most senior player dropped out and has been replaced by Jerry Jaravaza. This is the second change from the squad that was announced, the first being when Keegan Cooke took up the place of Vuyani Dhlomo.
Kaulback has injury concerns with Sam Phiri struggling with his fitness but the rest of the team is fully fit.
Zimbabwe are making their sixth appearance at the Rugby World Cup Sevens since they made their debut in 1997 when tournament was held in Hong Kong. The Cheetahs are one of the 24 men’s team that booked their place at this year’s edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens that is taking place on African soil for the first time ever.
Zimbabwe Cheetahs squad for Rugby World Cup Sevens:
Kudzai Mashawi (captain), Godfrey Magaramombe, Keegan Cooke, Munopa Muneta, Tapiwa Mulenga, Jerry Jaravaza, Carlos Matematema, Ryan Musumhi, Shingirai Katsvere, Sam Phiri, Munesu Muneta, Nigel Tinarwo
Online Reporter
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