adminPaul Munyuki Sports Reporter
THE National Rugby League will know, by the end of day today, when they will host the finals of the rugby competition as they are yet to consult with the clubs and the Zimbabwe Sevens committee led by Donald “Brasco” Mangenje.After playing 10 weeks of games, the NRL clubs are yet to decide if they are to use the halfway mark, which is eight games, for the finals after they failed to raise enough funds to play all 16 rounds of the nine-team competition.
The problem is that the NRL have proposed to have their games starting with the semi-finals on October 25 and have the final and third place play off on November 1, the same day that the Sevens Summer Series is expected to get underway.
NRL president Noddy Kanyangarara yesterday told The Herald they will have a clear picture of when the will play the semi-finals, the venues and the fixtures at the end of today.
“Clubs are willing to go for the knock-out stage next week but we are yet to set the date when the final will be played, the week number we are going to use to select the teams for the semi-finals and we will also have an idea on the venues we will use but we are looking at November 1 for the final.
“But by end of day tomorrow (today) we will have the finals after consulting with the clubs. We have to take into consideration that we run a nine-team league and this (Week Nine) is the only stage where all teams would have played an equal number of games because we have an odd number of teams meaning one of the teams will be on a bye at any given time outside this period,” said Kanyangarara.
Mangenje says it would be difficult for them to change the dates for the Sevens Summer Series having set November 1 as the opening week and the final set for November 15.
There will be a break in preparation for the Africa Cup Sevens tournament set for Harare Sports Club.
“It’s very difficult for us to start playing or changing our dates now because we have a three round competition which means it will be played in the first three weekend of November and we use the final weekend to name our squad for the Cheetahs camp.
“Having picked the players for the national camp on the 15th, they are going to need a break for recovery and they can’t have training or games before a major tournament that will be on the following weekend.
“We are talking of players who have been away from the game for a long time since there has not been any competitive rugby in Zimbabwe, clubs have played friendly games here and there so it’s really tight for us to move the dates.
“Tomorrow (today) we are also meeting as the Sevens committee and we will see how it goes,” said Magenje. After the Africa Cup, the Cheetahs will start preparing for the South African leg of the World Series set for Port Elizabeth.
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