Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE’S quest to qualify for Rugby World Cup has just got trickier.
This follows the Rugby Africa Cup draw in which the Sables were placed in the same group as Morocco and East African heavyweights Kenya and Uganda in the past weekend.
Zimbabwe go into the tournament — slated for July 20-28 in Uganda – as defending champions, and kick off their campaign against Africa Cup Repechage winners Morocco at the quarter-finals’ stage of the tournament.
An East African derby between Kenya and Uganda make up the second quarter-finals. The winners of the two matches will then meet in the first semi-final.
In the opposing bracket regional powerhouse Namibia will kick off their 2025 Africa Cup campaign with a date against Senegal while Algeria and Cote d’Ivoire square up in the fourth and final quarter-final match.
Of course, the winners of the two matches will then meet in the final. This years’ Africa Cup tournament is set to double as 2027 Rugby World Cup qualifiers with the winner booking a ticket to the quadrennial showcase.
The Sables go into the tournament as defending champions and meet a Morocco side fresh of punching their ticket to the Africa Cup main tournament this past weekend.
The North Africans earned their qualification after defeating Tunisia 26-12 in the Repêchage final on Sunday at Pere Jego Stadium in Casablanca.
The Repêchage final was a last-chance playoff 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 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 start planning.
“First and foremost, congratulations to Morocco for winning their final (Repêchage) and booking their ticket to Uganda for the Africa Cup main tournament,” said Hilton 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 anaylse 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.
As he pertains to the potential match-ups against either Uganda or Kenya, Mudariki said: “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 games but for us the main focus will be on Morocco and making sure we get past that hurdle,” he said.
Peter Tanyanyiwa