Mandenge confident of Olympics slot

Blessing Malinganiza

ZIMBABWE Women’s Sevens coach, Cyprian Mandenge, is confident of making it through to the Olympics when they take part in the final qualifying phase scheduled for Tunisia in October.

This follows a triumphant debut for the former Sables gaffer in Zambia after being appointed as head coach in June.

Zimbabwe qualified for the Africa Rugby Sevens 2024 Olympics Qualifiers- Women’s 7s together with Ghana and hosts Zambia.

“The teams were properly prepared. We had only trained for two weeks and I give it to my girls for the fight,” said Mandenge.

“We achieved our target of getting to the next level.

“We have a lot to work between now and October.”

Mandenge said it was an honour to lead the Lady Cheetahs.

“I am obviously happy to assist where I can with the ladies’ national team. I want to qualify for any tournament that we get into.

“I got appointed with about two weeks to go before the tournament (Zambia pre-qualifiers) but it’s something that I can’t complain about because when I took up the offer I knew that’s what was there.

“So, I just have to work with what’s there, although not the best because we needed a bit more time to be with the girls and get to know them and come up with the strongest team possible.”