Petros Kausiyo
ZIMBABWE’S Sables are not leaving anything to chance in their quest for success at this year’s Rugby Africa Cup and have lined up a number of Test matches, including hosting The Netherlands before embarking on their continental campaign.
The Sables will be in Uganda for the Africa Cup in July, which will also form the first major step towards the qualification race for the 2027 World Cup.
And, the Zimbabwe Rugby Union have vowed to pull all the stops to ensure the Sables are crowned Africa Cup champions on their East African sojourn.
ZRU president Aaron Jani said they will work closely with the Sables Trust to mobilise resources for the senior team as Piet Benade’s side seek to end the country’s long wait to feature at the Rugby World Cup.
Zimbabwe last took part at the World Cup in 1991.
Jani said the ZRU had arranged a Test match against Zambia, which brought the curtain down on the Mwana Group Schools festival and signalled the beginning of the Sables preparations.
“We were excited that we were able to at least get the international for men against Zambia and as you know we will be playing the Africa Cup this year so the technical team wanted to see exactly where we are and what we need to do to make sure that we perform at the highest level at the Africa Cup in Uganda.
“They are now working on more Test matches as part of those preparations.
“The encounter in Uganda (Africa Cup) is one part of a two-part process so the teams that perform this year will go through to next year until we get the two teams that will represent Africa outside of South Africa and by 25th May (next year) we should have those teams.
“I am also excited that we have a new team at the Sables Trust led by Lindsay Earle, and it is exciting that they have already hit the ground running and they will be soon revealing the partnerships that they are working on and are finalising and they will ensure that our team is ready to perform at the highest level and are well equipped,’’ Jani said.
The other members of the Sables Trust are former Zimbabwe international Tapfuma Parirenyatwa, Kisset Chirengende, Leigh Howe and Edwin Gumbo.