Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo
ZIMBABWE senior men’s national rugby team coach Pieter Benade says he is expecting a busy few months as they begin their preparations for the 2025 Africa Cup in Uganda in July.
The continental showdown serves as the direct qualifier to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Benade said they have a number of international matches lined up, especially in May.
He was speaking to Sports Xtra Zim on Saturday in Harare where he outlined the plans that are in place for the Sables.
He said they will also be working with the Junior Sables side, which is preparing for the Barthes Trophy.
“We have organised internationals, we have a nice busy month of May. We have three internationals against Zambia, home and away.
“We have a Botswana fixture, hopefully in Bulawayo, and we also have the UAE coming in and just before the Africa Cup we are looking to also play USA Under-23s.
“Amongst that is the Nedbank Challenge, we are going to assist the Under-20s in their preparations for the Barthes and the Outback team from Australia,” said Benade.
He added that on Saturday, there will be another intra-squad match between Zimbabwe A and Zimbabwe Select before they also face the Under-20s.
Benade also reflected on the match that was played on Saturday between the Sables Green and Sables Red.
The game ended as a 25-25 draw.
“Next week, we will play Zimbabwe A versus Zimbabwe Select and then we will play the Under-20s to help them with their preparation before the boys are released to clubs for the Nedbank Challenge.
“It was just about to get some rust off the boys, they haven’t played for four or five months so it was just about getting them tackling, running with the ball.
“I’m certainly happy with the way things went. We played in good spirit, nice and physical. We saw some good attacks and good defence, so we won’t judge players too harshly but it’s nice to see some of the Sables just showing their class,” said Benade. Zimbabwe enters the tournament, scheduled for 20-28 July, as the defending champions.
The Sables will start their campaign at the quarter-final stage against Morocco, the winners of the Africa Cup Repechage.
