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NewsDay

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Sables skipper Hondo confident ahead of Kenya tie

Sport
Sables’ skipper Daniel Hondo is confident that his charges can continue their good run this season by beating Kenya, who they meet in a Tri-nations Victoria Cup encounter at Harare Sports Club on Saturday. The 29-year-old Harare Sports Club centre led the Zimbabwe senior rugby side to promotion to the Africa Cup Group 1A after […]

Sables’ skipper Daniel Hondo is confident that his charges can continue their good run this season by beating Kenya, who they meet in a Tri-nations Victoria Cup encounter at Harare Sports Club on Saturday.

The 29-year-old Harare Sports Club centre led the Zimbabwe senior rugby side to promotion to the Africa Cup Group 1A after victories over Uganda and Madagascar in Kampala a week ago on his debut assignment as skipper.

This resulted in the Sables reaching a new high in the International Rugby Board (IRB) rankings for a second successive week after rising from position 42 to 40, only a week after they had moved up from 47 to 42.

In an interview with NewsDay Sport on Tuesday, Hondo said Saturday’s match would give the current crop of players a chance to prove their win in Uganda was no fluke.

“It was nice to get those wins away from home as captain of the side, but I believe it was because of teamwork. All the guys worked hard and have continued doing the same since we came back.

“There are some great young players and also some experienced players as well and I think we’re going to have a good team going into the game. We started our preparations soon after coming back from Uganda and everyone is looking forward to the game on Saturday,” said Hondo, who is the younger brother of former Zimbabwe international cricketer Douglas Hondo.

One of the features of the Sables’ recent good form had been Hondo’s inspirational captaincy and never was that more in evidence than in the 49-0 routing of Uganda.

“It was a huge honour to be named captain, but it also meant there were other aspects I had to change. It meant I had to lead by example both on and off the field. So far I’ve been working hard to do that. I hope to continue working on it,” said Hondo.

The hard-running Cheetahs’ regular was a consistent performer in the Sables’ backline in Uganda, where he led from the front both in defence and offence, using the experience he had gained on the IRB World Sevens circuit.

The Kenyans, who are the defending champions in the Victoria Cup, are expected to arrive in the country today ahead of the match against the buoyant Sables three days later.