Sundaymail Editor
Deputy Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE Women’s Sevens Rugby coach Dereck Chiwara is likely to spend the next couple of nights twisting and turning in his sleep, especially now that his team’s make-or-break trip to Lesotho beckons.
Lesotho has been earmarked as hosts of the Regional Sevens (South) tournament, a new initiative by Rugby Africa to ensure all member states are given an equal opportunity to qualify for the Africa Cup Sevens.
In fact, the Africa Cup Sevens tournament will this year act as qualifiers for the Commonwealth Games, and, more importantly, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, which will take place for the first time on African soil (South Africa).
While the men’s team have already qualified for the Africa Cup by virtue of their ranking, the Lady Cheetahs will have to go through the pre-qualifying rounds.
Four regional tournaments – West, East, North and South – have since been established, with only the winner of each tournament going through to the next stage.
The Lesotho competition is pencilled in for January 29 to January 30.
The hosts will be joined by Mauritius, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Eswatini and Malawi.
“Behind the scenes, we have been preparing and haven’t really taken this tournament lightly,” said Chiwara.
“How we perform there will set the tone for where we should be going and where we want to go as a nation in women’s rugby.
“The Lesotho tournament is our pre-qualifiers for the World Cup, and, unfortunately or fortunately, only one team will come out tops and proceed to the next round.
“This is where the pressure comes in as a coach (to deliver), and I am confident that the girls that we have available will do the job.”
The Lady Cheetahs trooped into camp yesterday and will be training at the Police Grounds until they depart for Lesotho on Wednesday.
There was, however, some good news for the gaffer, as he welcomed six returning stars who missed last year’s disastrous trip to Kenya.
Among them is Precious Marange, Samatha Chirongoma, Nyasha Gonamombe, Caroline Malenga, Robyn Mhembere and Delight Mukomondo.
They will be joined by debutant Precious Chirinda.
Margret Magwaro, who came out of retirement last year, will continue to lead the team.
“When we went to Kenya last year, we were actually preparing for this tournament.
“Unfortunately, results didn’t necessarily come our way, but, as a technical team, we went there with target areas and players we wanted to look at.
“We didn’t have the strongest of teams going there, but the tournament gave us a chance to look at some players, try out different combinations and identify areas we might be lacking.
“The task now will be to plug those gaps, areas we identified as lacking, and ensure we have the best team possible going into the Lesotho tournament,” he said.
Chiwara currently has a 15-member squad in camp and will trim it to 12 shortly before departing for Lesotho on Wednesday.
The remaining three members will be placed on standby as non-travelling reserves.
Zimbabwe Women’s Sevens Squad:
Peace Sithole, Rumbidzai Chigumbu, Lindiwe Munerenyu, Gladys Mukome, Margret Magwaro, Chiwoniso Mabika, Nikita Kuleya, Ruvimbo Mudyanadzo, Precious Chirinda, Precious Marange, Samantha Chirongoma, Nyasha Gonamombe, Caroline Malenga, Robyn Mhembere, Delight Mukomondo
Online Reporter