Hong Kong jet in for Sevens tourney

Jeffrey Murimbechi Sports Correspondent
HONG Kong’s national sevens rugby  team jetted into the country yesterday ahead of their appearance at the Zimbabwe International  Sevens Invitational which starts at Harare Sports Club tomorrow.The Asians are part of a line-up that will also feature teams from Zambia, South Africa, Georgia, Russia and hosts Zimbabwe.

Hong Kong head coach Gareth Baber, speaking soon after arrival at the Harare International airport said his team would be using the tournament as part of their final preparations before they host the Hong Kong International Sevens next week.

“We are preparing ourselves for the Hong Kong Sevens tournament. Coming to this tournament we have a good level of competition. We certainly want to be in the top four as we will get into the final day of the competition along with the best teams.

“There are no huge changes in the squad we have been together all year round playing in many tournaments over and over and we are in a good position going into this one. It will be a good measure of where we need to be going into the Hong Kong Sevens,’’ Baber said.

Commenting on the Cheetahs, Baber reckoned that the home side would be among the tournament’s favourites and felt Gilbert Nyamutsamba’s men have all the necessary qualities that make them a formidable force.

“The big thing with the Zimbabwean team is that they have been playing at the top level for a long time and I was fortunate to play against them back in the day. They are a strong outfit, they will be powerful and they have a lot of speed as well.

“Because of that, we know we are here for a strong tournament, South African teams will be here with a lot of physicality so we are not just seeing one team out (Zimbabwe), we have a job to do ourselves and we have to concentrate on what we can do,” said Baber.

Meanwhile, Cheetahs forward, Njabulo Ndlovu came into the country on the same flight with Hong Kong and will rejoin the rest of his countrymen who are already in camp.

Ndlovu returns from the college duties in the Varsity Cup in South Africa where he plays for the University of the Western Cape in the XVs format and he has just a day to adjust to the much faster game with the Cheetahs.

“I will have to gel in with the rest of the team and get used to playing sevens again. I have been playing fifteens rugby, ever since January and I have been preparing myself doing some extra work and running because I knew this tournament would come,” said Ndlovu.