FRANCE-BASED Zimbabwean rugby star Garth Ziegler completed his return to the Zimbabwe Sevens Rugby team after being included in a strong 12-member squad for next weekend’s Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens in Port Elizabeth.
BY OUR SPORTS REPORTER
The Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens, which is the third round of the HSBC Sevens World Series, will be played on Saturday the 8th and Sunday December 9 at the iconic Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The 25-year-old utility back, who turns out for French Top 14 side Bayonne, last played for the Cheetahs three years ago while he was playing his club rugby in Italy.
He joined the team in camp early this week and managed to do enough to convince the team’s technical team to consider him for the upcoming tournament.
Ziegler is the new face in the squad together with Matabeleland Warriors flank Lucky Sithole.
Sithole returns to the side after featuring at the Middleburg Sevens in South Africa and the 2013 Sevens Rugby World Cup qualifiers in Morocco.
He is, however, yet to feature on the World Sevens circuit and should make his first appearance in South Africa.
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Veteran forward Jacques Leitao retains the captain’s armband and will be ably assisted by backliner Danny Hondo, while prolific winger Wes Mbanje, forward Fortune Chipendu and Tangai Nemadire are some of the old horses in the side.
Zimbabwe Sevens manager Bruce Hobson said the team will be expected to leave the country for South Africa on Sunday.
He said the team was selected after consultations with the technical team for the national XVs side, the Sables, who will leave for Dubai on Wednesday for the Emirates Airline Cup of Nations.
The Sables squad, likely to be depleted in the absence of some of the players in the sevens side, will be named today.
Cheetahs Squad: Fortune Chipendo, Jacques Leitao, Njabulo Ndlovu, Justin Coles, Lucky Sithole, Tangai Nemadire, Kilvan Magunje, Daniel Hondo, Gardner Nechironga, Garth Ziegler Wes Mbanje, Tafadzwa Chitokwindo.
