adminThe Cheetahs are set to leave the country tomorrow for the world’s biggest annual Sevens tournament that will also serve as a pre-qualifier in their quest to become a core member.
At the moment, 14 players are in camp but two of them will be dropped from the final squad.
Yesterday morning the 14 players were divided into two teams of seven each where they played a practice game at Old Georgians that was very physical, showing the intensity of the competition for jerseys in the team.
Nyamutsamba hinted that Wensley Mbanje — who sat out during the Spar Zimbabwe international tournament last week — could travel with the side despite not being 100 percent fit as they will have at least five more days to train in Hong Kong before the games kick-off.
“All has been going on well of late, the training sessions have gone well and we are all good to go. The travelling party will be named tomorrow (today) after the morning training session and from the looks of things it is going to be tough on who to drop,” said Nyamutsamba.
“Mbanje is looking good and despite not playing in last week’s tournament (Spar international) he has been running well and looks good.
“I know he is not 100 percent fit but we will have more days of training in Hong Kong.”
The last time Zimbabwe took part in an IRB World Series tournament was last December when they travelled to South Africa while their first tournament of the year came last week in the form of the Spar Zimbabwe international tournament.
Gasman Justin Coles is the only player, who travelled to Port Elizabeth last year, who is not available among those in camp.
He misses out because of club commitments at his new base in South Africa having moved from England.
And among those that are in camp, Japhet Ndebele and newboy Stephan “Stavo” Hunduza — who earned his debut in Cheetahs colours last week — are the only ones who were not part of the side that played in South Africa.
Despite having travelled to South Africa at the end of last year, Ziegler featured for the developmental side — the Goshawks — last week and was good enough to earn a call up for the national camp.
But this morning Nyamutsamba will put to rest all the speculation about who will be in his team for Hong Kong.
“The good thing is that we have not had any injuries during our training camp and so we know we have all what we need and selection will be based on performance because we are also looking at how they performed last week.
“As witnessed this morning (yesterday) the boys were really physical during the match practice, it was a tough game because players need to justify their inclusion into the side,” said the Bulawayo businessman.
The Hong Kong tournament is being used by the IRB as a pre-qualifier for core membership status as the final leg will be played in London in May.
Cheetahs Squad:
Fortunate Chipendu, Jacques Leitao (captain), Njabulo Ndlovu, Japhet Ndebele, Lucky Sithole, Kelvin Magunje, Tafadzwa Chitokwindo, Stephan Hunduza, Gardner Nechironga, Tangai Nemadire, Tapiwa Tsomondo, Daniel Hondo, Garth Ziegler, Wensley Mbanje.
Hong Kong Draw
Pool A: South Africa, Wales, Argentina, Australia.
Pool B: New Zealand, United States, France, Kenya.
Pool C: Samoa, England, Scotland, Portugal.
Pool D: Canada, Fiji, Spain, Hong Kong.
Pool E: Tonga, Uruguay, Tunisia, Chinese Taipei.
Pool F: Japan, Georgia, Jamaica, Brazil.
Pool G: Russia, Zimbabwe, Cook Islands and Mexico.
Online Reporter