adminTHE Zimbabwe national sevens rugby team, the Cheetahs, are expected to intensify their preparations for the 2016 Rio Olympic qualifiers set for Johannesburg, South Africa on 14 and 15 November.
Cheetahs coach Daniel Hondo said the final squad of 12 to make the trip to South Africa is going to be announced this week ahead of the team’s departure on Sunday.
The team participated in two tournaments in September, in Namibia where they finished as runners-up and in Kenya where they took fourth place. The two events must have given Hondo an idea on the final squad to choose for the qualifiers. “Squad announcement next week (this week), we leave on the 8th,’’ said Hondo.
It is understood that the Cheetahs will get a chance to utilise the facilities at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria with the players based in South Africa joining up with those based in Zimbabwe.
Countries confirmed for the tournament set for Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park are Kenya, Madagascar, Namibia, Senegal, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Nigeria, Mauritius and Botswana.
With South Africa having already automatically booked their place in Rio next year by finishing second in last season’s Sevens World Series, Zimbabwe’s biggest threat at the event is expected from Kenya. At the Africa Cup sevens staged in Harare in November last year, the Jacques Leitao captained Cheetahs took third spot behind Kenya and South African Academy.
Bongani Ndlovu