adminJeffrey Murimbechi Sports Correspondent
RUSSIAN Sevens team skipper Dmitry Perov is ready for the upcoming tour of this country where they will play in the Zimbabwe International Sevens Invitational in Harare from March 14-15.
Two Russian sides will take part in the tourney.
The Cheetahs and the Goshawks will be the host sides and teams are expected to come from South Africa, Kenya, Georgia, Hong Kong and Russia.
Perov believes the tournament presents is a golden opportunity for the teams to boost their preparations for the Hong Sevens from March 28-30.
The Cheetahs will meet the Russians at the Hong Kong Sevens in a group that features Chile and Barbados.
“This tournament is a good opportunity for us to give practice for our young players who didn’t have enough time on the pitch in HSBC Sevens,” said Perov.
“We will participate in the Hong Kong 7s tournament where our team hopes to qualify for the next season HSBC Sevens.”
The winner of the qualifying tournament in Hong Kong will take the place of the bottom-ranked side of the 15 current core teams after round nine of the World Series, the Marriott London Sevens on May 10-11.
The Russian skipper hailed the quality of rugby in this country.
“We saw your Under-20 XVs team at the Junior World Rugby Tournament in Moscow 2010, we also watched your sevens team at the HSBC Sevens and RWC7s and we can say that rugby in Zimbabwe has a good quality level,” said Perov.
“Maybe it can be connected to the influence of South African rugby and that is why we are waiting for this tournament because we can play with really high level teams.
“Zimbabwe has a lot of good sevens players with a lot of experience, there are players such as Jacques Leitao and Tangai Nemadire and we looking forward to seeing if there is new talent.”
The Russian team is set for a training camp in South Africa where they will be joined by the Kenyans ahead of the Zimbabwe invitational Sevens.
Online Reporter