adminMbachi Mutukula-Maregere Harare Bureau
ZIMBABWE Women’s rugby coach Abigail Kawonza says their preparations for the Confederation of African Rugby Women’s Sevens 2014 has reached an advance stage and will announce the final squad on Friday.
The CAR Sevens will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, next week and the Zimbabwe team is scheduled to leave this Sunday.
This will be the second time that the Zimbabwe team, who are now known as the “Lady Cheetahs” are taking part at this event. The CAR Sevens is one of the most important tournament for the African countries.
Last year Zimbabwe came fifth and this time they will be hoping to improve and probably win.
“ I am thrilled about where the team is now. The reassuring thing is we have got a week in Nairobi where we can polish up the rough edges.
“We are continuing with the gym sessions at Pro- Fitness till we leave.
“We want to ensure that our conditioning is at par with other countries. We have also heightened the field sessions as well in the preparation. Unfortunately we are not in camp as there is no funding.
“There are a couple of new faces, Rudo Maphosa from Airforce Club had joined the squad this year. Her strength will be an asset to the forwards. Chengetai Katumha from police is making a comeback and her strength will definitely bolster the backline.
“It is our second time participating in this tournament, last year it was held in Tunisia and we came fifth. This year we hope to come back with better ranking as we chart our path to the qualifiers in 2015,” said Kawonza.
Zimbabwe has been drawn an competitive pool with Tunisia, who are ranked second in Africa, Uganda and Namibia.
Zimbabwe’s first fixture will be against Namibia and they stand a chance of winning as they are more experienced than them.
“Since we are more experienced than Namibia we are hoping for a win, but we cannot rule out any team at the moment. This tournament is going to be hard, we will definitely brace ourselves for a battle,” said Kawonza.
The great thing about the CAR is that it is well known for making sure development for coaches and teams is maintained and growing in Africa.
“ We are looking forward to the tournament as it is also going to provide a lot of learning and training, then gauging progress with the tournament,” said Kawonza.
Zimbabwe training squad
Precious Marange, Tariro Marufu, Tatenda Chitewe, Jacqueline Chironga, Barbara Shumba, Rumbidzai Chabveka, Charity Mucucuti, Ruvimbo Musere, Precious Pazani, Margaret Magwaro, Rachel Tembo, Chengetai Katumha, Rudo Maphosa, Getrude Masora, Brenda Sarupinda
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