Sables to know identity of third WC opponent

Grace Chingoma-Senior Sports Reporter

ZIMBABWE will know, in June, the identity of their third opponent in the African Qualifiers for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, after their group was left with two teams, following the suspension of Morocco. 

The North Africans, who were the other team in a Pool D headlined by Tunisia, were suspended by Rugby Africa over governance issues. 

Rugby Africa have scheduled a repechage, to run from June 5 to 13, to select one team that will take over the North African slot. 

The repechage tournament officially marks the start of the African qualifiers for the 2023 Rugby World Cup to be held in France. 

Yesterday, Rugby Africa announced four teams — Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon and Nigeria — are expected to feature in a round-robin tournament, over three match days, in Ouagadougou, in June. 

The winner then joins Tunisia and Zimbabwe in the African qualifiers pool. 

According to the new format, due to no competitions because of Covid-19, there will be four groups, with three teams. 

In Pool A, the top team are Namibia, while Kenya headline Pool B and Uganda are in Pool C and Tunisia in Pool D. 

The top two teams, from each pool, will progress to the final round of the Rugby Africa Cup in 2022, where they will compete for one direct qualification to the Rugby World Cup. 

Zimbabwe Rugby Union chief executive, Sifiso Made, said despite Pool B which seemingly appears a weaker group, following the suspension of Morocco, nothing can be taken for granted. 

“Rugby is played over 80 minutes, so any team can win it, so it is all about preparations,” said Made. 

“Those teams coming from the repechage will be at an advantage in terms of game time. 

“Tunisia has the majority of their players playing in France and other foreign leagues. 

“But, we are ready for all the teams that can come through, even Namibia. 

“This is why we want to camp for almost six weeks and play some friendly matches. We have written to Zambia and Namibia. 

“They are all receptive but, with almost one-and-half years without rugby action, budgets and sponsorship have been affected, so it’s difficult for the unions. 

“The friendlies are at our cost, there is no subsidy.” 

The Sables Trust are the marketing, and fundraising arm, for the association and have been raising funds for the national teams. The ZRU, at the beginning of this month, held trials for the local players, as they seek to boost the Sables player base. 

The players were monitored by the technical team, led by the team manager, Jason Maritz. 

“We had missed a couple of players and managed to get them on our radar,” said Made. 

“So, it was quite beneficial, we need our local players to be ready to play because a number of our players are playing abroad and their availability is determined by a number of factors, in the countries they are based, due to Covid-19.” 

A meeting between Zimbabwe and Tunisia will be interesting after the ugly events three years ago. 

Rugby Africa and Tunisia Rugby were forced to apologise to their Zimbabwean counterparts after the North Africans, in an act plucked from hell, detained the Sables at the airport, for six hours. 

They then booked them into a sub-standard lodge, which the Sables rejected. 

As outrage mounted, with the ill-treatment of the Sables going viral on social media and torching a storm in the sport, the African body apologised to the Zimbabwe Rugby Union.