Cheetahs to tour Europe

member, the Cheetahs were invited to take part at the Edinburgh and London tournaments before failing to make it as a core member.
Over the last few years, Zimbabwe have mainly been playing at the Dubai and South Africa.
The events were the opening legs of the IRB series but at the end of last year, the Gilbert Nyamutsamba-coached side saw their profile grow.
The Cheetahs also used to take part in the Hong Kong tournament depending on how they would have fared at the Dubai and South Africa competitions.
Their consistent run paid dividends when they were invited to these international tournaments, making it a busier 2011/12 season for them on the IRB World Series.
And yesterday, the majority of the Cheetahs were at the Country Club gym where they also conducted a strength test before a field session at Old Georgians Sport Club in the evening.
With most of the Cheetahs players already in camp for the tournament, the Germany-based duo of Gardner Nechironga and Manasah Sita will fly directly from their bases to link up with the Cheetahs in Scotland.
England-based Justin Coles was yesterday part of the Cheetahs squad that went through their paces at Old Georgians but South Africa-based Jonathan McWade is expected in today.
Having recovered from a knee injury, Njabulo Ndlovu arrived on Monday night while Gweru Sports Club winger Kilvan Magunje has also been called into camp for the back-to-back tournaments.
Some of the home-based players that are in camp include the Old Georgians duo of captain Jacques Leitao and Fortune Chipendu, the Harare Sports Club trio of Tangai Nemadire, Daniel Hondo and Gerald Sibanda.
The 14-man squad announced by Cheetahs manager Bruce Hobson yesterday will be trimmed down to 12 at the end of the week but no major changes are expected to the side that did duty at the Spar International Sevens recently. Yesterday, Hobson told The Herald that their early departure for Scotland was due to logistical complications that will see them spend the day in Dubai on Monday and also have a training session there.
“Because of the flights schedule we will have to leave on Sunday evening and we will spend Monday in Dubai where we will also have to have a training session otherwise it would be difficult to connect to Scotland.
“Coles is here but Gardner and Sita will have to fly directly to Scotland but for the guys that are here we are training at Old Georgians 4pm and we also have gym sessions in the morning,” said the former Zimbabwe Rugby Union president.
After taking parting in the Scotland leg of the series, Zimbabwe will then travel to London for their final IRB tournament of the 2011/12 season and Hobson reckons they are not in easy tournaments.
In Scotland Zimbabwe are in Pool C where they are the only side that does not have a core status and they will face Argentina, Fiji and Portugal but the Cheetahs are yet to know who they will take on in London as the draw is yet to be conducted.
Cheetahs Squad:
Fortune Chipendu, Jacques Leitao, Njabulo Ndlovu,Justin Coles, Manasha Sita, Mike Morris, Tangai Nemadire, Graham Kaulback, Daniel Hondo, Gerald Sibanda, Gardner Nechironga, Wes Mbanje, Kilvan Magunje, Jonathan McWade.