adminFrom Paul Munyuki in JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
CHEETAHS captain Hilton Mudariki has been in top form in the Varsity Cup this season, leading University of Johannesburg to the Varsity Cup semi-finals.
But the scrumhalf says he was hurt when he learnt that he would not be part of the Zimbabwe Sevens side for the World Series qualifier next week.
Mudariki feels he has been playing the “best rugby of his career” this season but his form will be missed by his home-country in six days’ time as Zimbabwe will be back at the Hong Kong Stadium.
The venue that has a lot of bad memories for the Cheetahs as they lost last year’s qualifier to Russia who scored a buzzer-beating try to elbow coach Daniel Hondo’s side out of contention.
Mudariki yesterday told The Saturday Herald that has turned down a number of offers from “several Currie Cup unions” because he would like to keep his focus on winning the Varsity Cup.
“I’ve been playing probably the best rugby of my career this year and I’m just looking to improve with each game.
“I have been approached by a few Currie Cup unions but at the moment I’m just focused on helping UJ win the semi final on Monday night,” said Mudariki.
But Mudariki says while he would have loved to be back at the Hong Kong Stadium on Friday, UJ have indicated they could not release him due to Monday’s Varsity Cup clash against University of the North West.
“I was absolutely gutted to not be available for Hong Kong. It’s a great tournament and I would have loved to have been part of the team and gone one better than last year.
“It was a tough call. I am under a Varsity Cup contract here at UJ and releasing me was a problem for them as we are preparing for a semi final next Monday versus University of the North West Pukke,” said Mudariki.
However, the Cheetahs were so unfortunate last year that they lost out on two major Sevens rugby qualifications in the same manner, the first being the loss to Russia in the Sevens membership qualifier and the second against Kenya in the Olympic qualifier here in South Africa.
Again, with the Cheetahs leading after regulation time in the final had elapsed, Kenya came from behind with yet another buzzer-beating try off a Chee tahs kick-off leaving Mudariki and his charges shattered as they lost out.
But the former Michaelhouse College student says painful as it was, the Cheetahs drew a number of lessons from the defeats and that is why he believes those chosen by Hondo to go and battle in Hong Kong know what it means to be part of the army.
According to Mudariki, defence is one of the biggest things the Cheetahs should carry in their mind.
“It was difficult for us to miss out two major tournaments last year after working so hard to reach the finals and playing really good rugby,” said Mudariki.
“I know the boys will be working hard in camp and through the different game situations in the tournament.
“A lot of focus should be on the little detail that will help us get over a tough hurdle the boys might face in Hong Kong. We must stick to our structure and our basics.
“Attack does win games but defensive (structure) will win you tournaments. We have shown what we are capable of on a attack, but we should look to be working hard for one another in defence and I do believe we have the players to put in a solid 14 minutes every game we are involved in.
“It’s very important to respect every team you come up against as Sevens is a funny game and anything can happen on the day.
“For us it’s all about focusing on what we have to do and treating every game like a final.
“Japan are a very well structured, well drilled team and will be very competitive like all the teams we will come up against but as I mentioned earlier we have a fantastic group of players who will be working very hard to get us over the line this year.”
Mudariki also took time to reflect on his Varsity Cup journey so far where his side has only lost one game and a win on Monday would see UJ making it to the final for the first time — a feat he is looking forward to.
“It’s been a solid season for us. We did slip up vs Tuks ( with a 43-8 loss) but we came back after that game with three massive performances to book a home semi-final.”
Online Reporter