daniel chigunwe
Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE’S pedigree to end their three-decade absence from the Rugby World Cup will come under severe scrutiny at this year’s Africa Cup in Uganda in July.
This is because the Sables quest to qualify for the 2027 Rugby World Cup just got trickier yesterday following a draw for the Africa Cup in which they were pooled together with some of the continent’s top teams — Morocco and East African heavyweights Kenya and Uganda.
The Africa Cup is being used as a qualifier for the 2027 World Cup in Australia, with the winners securing an automatic ticket while the runners-up would have to undergo a more arduous play-off qualifier better known as Repechage.
Zimbabwe goes into the tournament — slated for July 20-28 in Uganda — as defending champions and kicks off their campaign against Africa Cup Repechage winners Morocco at the quarter-final stage.
An East African blockbuster derby between Kenya and Uganda makes up the second quarter-final of Pool A.
The winners of the two matches will then meet in the first semi-final.
In the other pool powerhouse Namibia will kick off their Africa Cup campaign with a date against Senegal while Algeria and Cote d’Ivoire square off in the other last eight match.
Zimbabwe are the top seeds at this year’s tourney by virtue of winning last year’s Africa Cup. Morocco on their part, are fresh from fighting their way into the continent’s top eight via a 26-12 victory over fellow North Africans Tunisia in a Repechage final on Sunday at Pere Jego Stadium in Casablanca.
The Repechage final was a last-chance play-off match that determined the final team to qualify for the Rugby Africa Cup after they did not qualify directly in the earlier round. Morocco started the game strong and finished the first half with a narrow 14-12 advantage.
They maintained their strong performance in the second half as they extended their lead to secure the victory.
To reach the playoffs, Morocco competed in Group B, where they first defeated Botswana with a dominant 64-0 win.
They then faced Madagascar in the group final group game and won 53-37 to earn their place in the decisive match against Tunisia.
Tunisia qualified for the playoff from Group A after winning their group final against Zambia with a score of 29-7.
Speaking after the draw, Sables’ skipper expressed relief as the Zimbabwe technical team now their opponents and will upscale their preparations.
“First and foremost, congratulations to Morocco for winning their final (Repechage) and booking their ticket to Uganda for the Africa Cup main tournament,” said Mudariki
“We know that they are a quality team, with some very good players.
“They are predominantly a France-based team, so we know they will be a tricky opposition for us to come up against.
“The good thing for us is that we know now who we are playing and now have the opportunity to analyse their game and see which areas we can exploit.
“We are certainly looking forward to that match; the last time we played them was in Harare and we drew that game (22-22),” he said. Mudariki, also spoke about the tougher assignments against either of Kenya or Uganda.
“The first goal will be to get through the quarter-finals and we are not looking too much ahead.
“We know that both Uganda and Kenya are very good teams and their match-up is going to be pretty brutal and pretty fierce.
“It will be exciting to see what happens in that game but for us the main focus will be on Morocco and making sure we get past that hurdle,” he said.
Quarter-final draw:
Zimbabwe v Morocco
Uganda v Kenya
Namibia v Senegal
Algeria v Cote d’ Ivoire
Online Reporter