Nyamutsamba wary of his Cheetahs

Tinashe Kusema

CHEETAHS coach Gilbert Nyamutsamba is under no illusion of what awaits his charges when champions Zimbabwe travel to South Africa for the Africa Cup rugby Sevens tournament later this year.

The tournament, slated for November 8 to 9 in Johannesburg, will be used as qualification for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

The 14 teams vying for both the African crown and a ticket to the global sports showcase include Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, Zambia, Tunisia, Senegal, Morocco, Namibia, Ghana, Botswana, Mauritius, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.

As defending champions, Zimbabwe go into the tourney with their backs are against the wall owing to poor preparations.

“When the year begun, we were truly favourites to retain the title and book a ticket to the Olympics.

“Unfortunately, we have been inactive for the larger part of the year and our chances have dwindled with every passing month. The other teams were playing while we were not.

“But, as has been the case before, we will have to do what we can in the time that is left and hope for the best,” Nyamutsamba said.

The Cheetahs got their preparation off to a rocky start a fortnight ago, when they travelled to Zambia in a trip that signified the start of their Africa Cup preparations.

Nyamutsamba’s hugely depleted and inexperienced squad failed to make the desired impact at the Zambia Sevens tournament, going down to Spartans of Botswana 26-14 in the final.

There were also blemishes as the team went down to Zambia Lechwe (7-12) and Spartans (5-15) during the preliminary stages, before profiting from the Blue Bulls’ withdrawal from the tournament and beating Lesotho (33-10) to make it through to the group stages.

However, rather than viewing the trip as a failure, Nyamutsamba is looking at it positively.

“We have not been active for the larger part of the year and only regrouped for a day before departing for the tournament, so, results were never the objective.

“Rather, my main focus was player assessment. In that regard, we managed to achieve our goals.

“We did not get the players we wanted largely due to club commitments and injuries, so I opted to give some game time to a couple of fringe and returning players.

“Njabulo Ndlovu and Tarisai Mugariri had not played for the Cheetahs in over a year, so giving them game time and assessing their match fitness was of great importance.

“We also carried two debutants, Theo Goredema and Ganizani Chiku. lt was imperative to give them a run and introduce them to the Cheetahs’ culture,” he said.

Nyamutsamba gave the players some rave reviews. He hopes to retain them when the Cheetahs regroup next month.

Moreso, given the fact that Sables have completed their Victoria Cup assignments.

This will enable Nyamutsamba to hold at least two more camps before his charges travel to Kenya for another preparatory tournament and then the Africa Cup tournament.