Vusumuzi Dube
Innocent Kurira
THE Lady Cheetahs finished third at the Rugby Africa Women’s Seven’s 2024 Olympics pre-qualifiers in Zambia at the weekend to book a place at the final qualifiers scheduled for Tunisia later this month.
Hosts Zambia finished first at the pre-qualifiers followed by Senegal.
The three join Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Madagascar, and Tunisia who have already qualified for Tunisia via rankings.
Zimbabwe won four of their five games in Zambia losing only to Ghana 15-19. The Lady Cheetahs won 43-0, 20-0, 46-0 and 10-7 against Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Burkina Faso and Senegal.
Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) vice president Martin Shone praised the team for edging closer to Olympic qualification.
“As a Union we would like to congratulate the ladies for a good outing. The work has to continue from here so that the qualification dream is a reality,” said Shone.
The Lady Cheetahs team is coached by Cyprian Mandenge.
The former Sables coach is making a return to the national teams’ set up after some time on the sidelines.
He has, however, maintained a close connection with local rugby, having been credited with Old Hararians’ resurgence as a force in domestic rugby and is also the sports director at Eaglesvale, who have over the last few years become a powerhouse in schools’ sports.
The multi-talented coach, who has mentored some of the country’s most decorated athletes in rugby, cricket, athletics, boxing, martial arts, and personal fitness training, has not coached at national team level since the end of his two-year tenure as the senior men Sables’ head coach between 2015 and 2017.
Meanwhile, The Young Sables will face a Zimbabwe A squad in a send-off match set for Prince Edwards on Saturday.
The Zimbabwe side will leave for Kenya the next day to take part in the World Rugby Under-20 Trophy 2023 gets underway on July 15 with Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi hosting all 16 matches.
Zimbabwe are in Group A with Scotland and Uruguay. Group B has Hong Kong, China, Kenya, Samoa and Spain
In April, the Africa slot was filled by Zimbabwe, after an emphatic 60-6 win against Tunisia in the semi-finals of the Rugby Africa Barthes Under20 Trophy.
This followed on from an earlier 55-0 win against Ivory Coast. With the other finalists, Kenya, already qualified because of their status as host nation, reaching the final was sufficient to ensure the Young Sables would be Africa’s second team at the World Rugby Under-20 Trophy.
But the Young Sables were not content with just qualifying, they had an African U20 title to defend and they went on to beat Kenya, 28-7, at a packed Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi.
-@innocentskizoe
Online Reporter