Cheetahs soak in Famous Grouse boost

next week and this is when the Famous Grouse will take over as the Cheetahs main sponsors.

However, Spar will go into the tournament as the Cheetahs main sponsors as the deal expires at the end of June but the retail giants will remain as the title sponsors of the Spa Zimbabwe Sevens international tournament.

The deal between the World Cup bound Cheetahs and Famous Grouse — who also sponsor the Scotland Sevens rugby side — is estimated at around US$100 000 and is a year long and will mostly take care of the Cheetahs needs during their international tours.

Cheetahs committee chairman Donald “Brasco” Mangenje yesterday at the launch of the sponsorship said the Famous Grouse have become the new team sponsors while Spar remain as the tournament sponsors.

“We are proud to be associated with Famous Grouse and we believe this is a good beginning to a marriage we hope will continue even after the year and I am so happy that we have been ranked in the same helm with the likes of Scotland who are also sponsored by the same company,” said the former Cheetahs and Sables scrummy.

Famous Grouse regional manager in charge of East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands Lerato Ramollo added it is their hope to extend the sponsorship to other sectors as well, starting with the Cheetahs.

“We are very humbled to be associated with the Cheetahs and us (Famous Grouse) being part of the Cheetahs is because we noticed the potential within the team .

We are very excited about the small part we are going to play in the Cheetahs and we hope to extend this to other areas in Africa,” said Ramollo.

The Cheetahs travelling 12 is also expected to be named today and no major surprises are expected in the side that will do duty for the nation at the World Cup where Zimbabwe hope to surpass their Bowl final performance from the previous tournament.

Coach Gilbert “Gidza” Nyamutsamba yesterday reaffirmed that he would be loyal to the players that have been sticking with the side in the tough and good times and gave their all during the training camps.

“Loyalty is a big thing in any relationship and those who really played their part , are fit, trained hard and have been  available when we needed them will definitely be rewarded because they were also loyal to the team.

“Those will be treated as deserving players and that is going to count a lot in selection and when we name the final squad and I am happy that we do not have any fitness issues because all the players we have in camp are certified fit so no player will be dropped on fitness grounds,” said the former Sables and Cheetahs winger.

The Cheetahs have — especially the locally based players — been in camp for the greater part of the year starting in January when the Cheetahs committee came up with the idea of awarding the players with semi-professional contracts.

Having qualified for the world tournament last year after winning the Africa Cup in Tunisia, Nyamutsamba knew they were in for a huge challenge and set a training programme – for both the individuals and the teams as a whole.

And today the players will be rewarded for the effort they put in over the past six months in preparation for the tournament.

“The time and effort put into our preparations is very recommended. We knew from last year that we were going be going for the World Cup and so we worked on a lot of aspects of the game, the player combinations, fitness, skill and we are a better side than we were this time last year.

“We have done the best we can in  preparing for the World Cup. We have played a number of tournaments so we are in a good position going into the World Cup and have utilised the opportunities that came our way.

“I am happy that we are beginning to work with more junior players that are coming up into the team and their presence over the past months has really put pressure on the senior players to work even harder.

“They (young players) have brought a different dimension to the way we have been, they have speed, and that has surely forced the senior players to work but at the end of the day no one has a guaranteed place in the team,” said Nyamutsamba.

Some of the youthful players that have earned national caps with the Cheetahs over the last six months include Tapiwa Tsomondo – who has since commanded a jersey in the side – Stephan Hunduza, Shayne Makombe and Tonderai Chigumbura.

A year after last playing for the Cheetahs Manasah Sita bounced back into the set-up on Monday where yesterday he underwent a fitness test under Nyamutsamba in the afternoon at Old Georgians Sport Club.

Sita last played for the Cheetahs at the Hong Kong leg of the International Rugby Board World Sevens Series that was also doubling up as a core-membership qualifier last year in May and went on to miss the next four tournaments leading to the World Cup.

Players that include Gerald Sibanda have fallen by the way side while Old Georgians’ Graham Kaulback was ruled out of the World Cup in late January,  after he broke his leg during a national team training session and an operation saw him being ruled out of the game for six months.

This effectively resulted in Kaulback missing out of the Spar Zimbabwe International Sevens rugby tournament, the London qualifiers and the Africa Cup in Kenya.

Cheetahs Training Squad: Jacques Leitao (captain), Fortune Chipendu, Njabulo Ndlovu, Tapiwa Tsomondo, Lucky Sithole, Daniel Hondo, Gardner Nechironga, Wensley Mbanje, Justin Coles, Tangai Nemadire, Tafadzwa Chitokwindo, Garth Ziegler, Mike Morris, Japhet Ndebele,  Kilvan Magunje,  Stefan Hunduza,  Manasah Sita.