adminNew Zealand’s Auckland Vikings in the Plate final of the Safaricom Sevens tournament.
Nyamutsamba, who was in charge of the Cheetahs in the absence of England-based coach Liam Middleton, said he was impressed by his side at the weekend.
The Cheetahs left for Nairobi, Kenya, without some of their regular players, who included South Africa-based winger Tafadzwa Chitokwindo, and the German-based duo of Manasah Sita and Gardner Nechironga.
There were a number of rookies that were roped in, with the likes of Simbarashe “Combat” Gonese, playing his debut tournament for the Cheetahs while Kudakwashe Chiwanza, Kelvin Magunje and Lloyd Machanjaira were playing their second tourney.
There were some experienced players with Fortune Chipendu coming in from South Africa, while captain Jacques Leitao and Daniel Hondo gave depth to the side.
Nyamutsamba yesterday indicated that the way his side played as this gave him an insight into the future of the Cheetahs.
“It was a tough tournament for us but that is what we needed as we are preparing for our first IRB tournaments in Dubai and South Africa.
“The bigger and tougher the opposition we play the better we become and that is what the Safaricom Sevens was for us as we played some higher-ranked teams compared to us.
“Given that we are looking at having a wider player base, we have also been invited to take part in more IRB tournaments, I think the performance by the new players was encouraging. I am sure that when we select the final squad for the Dubai/Port Elizabeth tournaments we will have about two rookies travelling with the side for these tournaments.
“We have always had a challenge of growing our player base and we definitely need to keep bringing in young players and we are getting closer to our target of 20 players. We have added five this year (Magunje, Machanjaira, Chiwanza, Mike Morris and Gonese) and we are getting there,” said Nyamutsamba.
Online Reporter