ZIMBABWE sevens rugby team captain Jacques Leitao is confident that his team will gain the core team status at the South African leg of the IRB World Sevens Series which kicks off today. By Michael Madyira Sports Reporter
The Cheetahs are in Pool D with Portugal, Canada and United States and are the only side of the 16 teams with non-core team status at the Port Elizabeth two-day event. Gilbert Nyamutsamba’s charges are hoping to repeat March’s Hong Kong Series feat where they beat Portugal 21-17.
They also faced Canada in Hong Kong and fell down 24-21, but this time hope to pull an upset.
Leitao told irb.com that they are geared up to join the elite club next season. “Becoming a core team is one of our goals here and to be at the World Cup in June,” said Leitao.
“It is a bigger task ahead of us but at the back of our minds we know we have beaten US before so we fancy our chances against any team. Definitely our goal is to beat them and we do believe we can beat them.”
The Cheetahs will be banking on strong backing from South Africa-based Zimbabweans.
