Sables getting recognition

the Sables triumph on the continent where they have been crowned African champions this year and their decent run in the international matches they have played over the last two years has not only thrust them back as a force but has been the carrot that is now luring some of their prodigal sons back home.
The Sables had fallen down the rankings but they found their feet again and rose to win the Africa Cup for the first time since it was re-intro­duced at the turn of the millennium.
Such an achievement has also meant more invitations for Brendon Dawson’s men to play in international tournaments.
The Sables were recently invited to take part in the Namibia and Emirates Dubai international tournaments and they are not taking the preparations lightly as this is a chance for them to start preparing for the World Cup set for England in 2015.
Mandenge added that they are only going to select players based on form, merit and fitness with fitness reports expected to be the main factor on the first day of camp.
“We are going to pick the players for the two tournaments on ability and merit and on the first day of camp we are going to review all the fitness and conditioning reports so that we have the fittest players on board.
“It’s all about how good you are and there are no guaranteed places for any of the players foreign-based or locally-based, we are just going to go for the better player for the positions,” said Mandenge.
In Namibia, Zimbabwe will take on Spain, a South African select side and hosts Namibia before travelling to Dubai where they will play Belgium and Hong Kong in Pool A of the event.
“We might not have any clue on how Namibia or Spain have been play­ing save for the fact that most of their Sevens players are also part of this side while I believe that South African rugby has a lot of influence on how the Namibians play.
“However, their (Namibia) Under-20 side played a different game as they loved running at their opponents a lot but at the end of the day it’s not going to be how our opponents are playing.
“We need to play our own game and that is how we control the game, and we have to go there with an open mind but our strength as always has been speed and talent,” said Mandenge.
The Sables will play six games in about 20 days between Namibia and Dubai and Mandenge feels that this is one of the reasons why more players are expressing interest in featuring for the senior team.
In the past Zimbabwe would strug­gle to play international games and it came to a time where the Sables even failed to play their traditional friendly against Zambia.
With rugby having managed to turn the corner, Zimbabwe have taken part in the Africa Cup qualifiers as well as the Victoria Cup.
“I am happy with the progress that Zimbabwe rugby has showed over the years because in most cases previously we would fall at the last hurdle.
“But since we started getting more games in the past few years the boys have become used to playing a lot at such level and they are ready to play for their country. The reasons why not so many players wanted to play for the nation I think was that there were not so many games that Zimbabwe played because it was all just about qualifiers and nothing more.”
With the view that the Sables are preparing for the World Cup, Namibia could be the only thing standing between Zimbabwe and the world stage despite the fact that Namibia are in a lower ranked group, they cannot be ruled out.
The two tournaments are also aimed at giving the Sables’ technical team an insight of what to expect when the going gets tough and also expose the up and coming players for future games.
“We are not yet decided on the mix of players for the Dubai and Namibia tournaments but it would make good sense that we send the more experi­enced players for the Namibia tourna­ment because of the teams that we are going to play there.
“Dubai would be good largely for the up and coming players, the youth­ful athletes who need exposure and experience because that is not bought.
“This will also be a good opportu­nity for us to have a look at such play­ers and how they would perform under pressure, not just throwing them in the deep-end the first time at the big stage.
“At the end of the day the rugby family is a small entity and we need to pull in the same direction when it comes to national matters, putting our clubs, provinces and colour (race) aside and will see us achieve big,” said Mandenge.