‘Street Boys’ Sables face Tunisia

THE countryaï¿½ï¿½s flagship rugby side, Sables, will on Saturday take on Tunisia in their third match of the Gold Cup, which is serving as a 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifier.

The Zimbabwe Sables, who slept on the streets of Beja in protest about the kind of the accommodation they were offered in Tunisia before they were moved to a better hotel on Tuesday, are smarting from 45-36 defeat at the hands of Kenya.

Itaï¿½ï¿½s a must win encounter for Zimbabwe who are fourth on the log with just two points while Namibia are on top of the log with 15 followed by Kenya on eight and Morocco with three.

Winners of the 2018 Rugby Africa Gold Cup will automatically qualify for next yearaï¿½ï¿½s World Cup in Japan while the runners up also have a chance of going to the tournament via a playoff against second-placed teams from other continental qualifiers.

Images of the Sables sleeping on the streets of Beja surfaced on Tuesday and they brought about widespread condemnation on social media.

The players decided to find shelter outside the hotel where they were meant to stay as it was substandard.

North Africans are infamous for their hostile way of hosting Zimbabwean sporting teams. This is despite the fact that they are booked into some of the best hotels when their teams come to Zimbabwe.

In a statement, Rugby Africa said: aï¿½?Rugby Africa has been made aware of the difficulties encountered by the Zimbabwean Rugby team aï¿½ï¿½ the Sables aï¿½ï¿½ with regards to their accommodation in Tunisia. We would like to reassure the Zimbabwean Ministry of Sports, Zimbabwe Rugby Union, and all partners and fans that the situation was addressed immediately, and an acceptable solution has been found this morning.

Tunisia Rugby Union took the Sables management to visit another hotel which was acceptedaï¿½ï¿½aï¿½ï¿½

The continental body expressed regret over the treatment of the Sables in North Africa and stated that this does not in any way reflect on the levels of the Rugby Africa Gold Cup.

aï¿½?Rugby Africa and Tunisia Rugby Union would like to express their sincere apologies to the Sables team and management for this unfortunate situation. This does not reflect the standards of the Rugby Africa Gold Cup competition and we sincerely regret any prejudice caused.aï¿½?