Old Georgians in Gold Cup pledge

OLD GEORGIANS coach Grant Mitchell has challenged his players to use their participation in the Gold Cup to market themselves and Zimbabwe rugby. OGs are Zimbabwe’s sole representatives in the rebranded Gold Cup, South Africa’s top competition for non-university rugby union clubs.

The tournament runs from September 10 to October 29.

“It is not just OGs making their debut appearance in this competition, but rather Zimbabwe club rugby making its debut,” said Mitchell. “We as a club are fortunate enough to represent Zimbabwe, and our main aim will be to compete and not just participate. Anything less, will be doing a disservice to ourselves and the nation.”

Mitchell noted that the Gold Cup gave the local rugby giants a chance to show the region that club rugby was alive and well in Zimbabwe.

“Our focus is on achieving our goals when preparing and then taking each match as it comes. Besides playing in this competition we have mission to take Zimbabwe club rugby to the region,” he said.

OGs earned the right to represent the country after dispatching Old Hararians 39-20 in the final of the qualifiers earlier this year.

They will join 19 other teams in a competition that will be played in a Rugby World Cup-style format with the teams divided into four groups of five teams each.

Eight pool matches will be played weekly for five weeks, after which the top two teams in each group will proceed to the knock-out stages.

Old Georgians begin their campaign on September 10, with an away tie against White River of Mpumalanga province but as they step up their preparations injuries are rocking their camp.

“Rugby is a brutal sport and we have suffered some injuries throughout the season,” said Mitchell. “We will be without the services of Pieter Joubert for the entire Gold Cup campaign after he ruptured his biceps on international duty against Uganda. We do have two players, in Kuda Chiwanza and Phillip Jeans, returning from injury and their return to play will have to be monitored appropriately. They are both in a race against time.”

On a positive, Mitchell does have a wide pool of both young and seasoned players from which to choose his team.

“Both youth and experience add value to the squad environment,” he said. “As long as there is a collective approach to preparation and competition for places internally then the selection will take care of itself.”