adminOld Georgians Sports Club.
Having last played for the Cheetahs at the Scotland leg of the Word Series last year in May, Morris suffered a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the World Cup qualifiers that were held in Morocco last September
Morris was also not available in all the tournaments from then, missing out on the Spar Zimbabwe Sevens, Hong Kong World Series pre-qualifiers, the Africa Cup in Kenya and the London Sevens qualifiers.
Nyamutsamba’s side, that he announced shortly after lunch at Old Georgians Sports Club, is made up of six players from the 2009 World Cup Bowl winning side and six others who came into the ranks after the same World Cup.
Captain Jacques Leitao, Fortune Chipendu, Daniel Hondo, Wensely Mbanje, Tangai Nemadire and Gardner Nechironga will be making their second appearances at the World Cup while Germany-based Manasah Sita missed out on the chance of a second appearance.
Winger Tafadzwa “Marubber” Chitokwindo becomes the first player to have graduated from the Junior World Rugby Trophy Under-20 side and play at the World Cup.
The duo of Jafet Ndebele and Tapiwa Tsomondo were the only players from the side that travelled to London for the core membership qualifiers but failed to make the cut and were replaced by Morris and France-based Garth Zeigler.
“We looked at consistency on the part of the players and basically had to stick to most of the players that played for the Cheetahs since the Port Elizabeth tournament because I feel that consistency is key,” said Nyamutsamba.
“But the side we have picked is a good blend of experience and youth.
“Experience in the fact that some of the players that are in the side were part of the squad that played at the 2009 World Cup and the other six were integrated into the side after the same World Cup.
“Having players who have previously played at such a stage is an advantage to us because it being the World Cup can cause a lot of panic to some players and so I believe the senior players will be there to calm and steady the side.
“The return of Morris from injury is welcome and I hope that he will pick from where he left when he got injured because that is when he was playing his best rugby, Garth missed out on London as he was also injured during the final in Hong Kong.
“Since qualifying for the World Cup we have been involved in a number of tournament that include the Spar, Hong Kong, Kenya, Port Elizabeth (last year) and the London Sevens so I am happy with the game time we got in the build-up to this tournament.
Cheetahs World Cup Squad
Fortunate Chipendu, Jacques Leitao (captain), Lucky Sithole, Njabulo Ndlovu, Garth Ziegler, Daniel Hondo, Tangai Nemadire, Gardner Nechironga, Wes Mbanje, Tafadzwa Chitokwindo, Mike Morris, Kilvan Magunje.
Online Reporter