SABLES coach Brendan Dawson has welcomed the return of foreign-based rugby players to local rugby and believes this will create a healthy competition for places in the flagship rugby side ahead of a busy 2013 season.
REPORT BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
This year has witnessed the return of local players who were plying their trade abroad, the most recent being that of Scotland-based former Young Sables skipper Andy Rose.
Former Sables flyhalf David Cloete also returned to local rugby after stints in South Africa and Australia.
“It’s exciting to note that players who were plying their trade overseas are coming back to play here.
“It proves that the level of our rugby is improving and from a coaching perspective, it’s a massive boost as it will create competition for places in the side ahead of what looks like a busy year. We need to have our best players to be able to compete against top teams,” he said.
Dawson’s men are this year expected to play more Test matches than they played last year in addition to friendlies against South African provisional sides as they brace for the Car Africa Cup Group 1A competition in Madagascar in July.
The Car Africa Cup Group 1A competition in Madagascar will be crucial for the Sables 2015 Rugby World Cup ambitions as they will hope to retain their place in the continent’s top tier group as the winner of that group in 2014 will automatically qualify for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.
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The Sables, whose last international assignment came during the Emirates Cup of Nations in Dubai last December, kick start their season on May 25 with a home game against rivals Namibia at Harare Sports Club.
Their next games will be in South Africa where they will compete under the Goshawks banner with the first friendly game against provincial side Limpopo Blue Bulls on June 1 in Polokwane before they travel to Mpumalanga Province for a date against the Pumas at Witbank four days later.
The Sables will end their tour of South Africa with a trip to Gauteng Province where they are expected to take on Valke on June 8 in a return match after the South African side toured Zimbabwe last year.
After the South African tour, the Sables will take a month long break before returning to action when they take part in a four-nation tournament the country is expected to host from July 6-13.
The tournament is scheduled for Harare will feature Kenya and while the fourth team is yet to be confirmed.
The four-nation invitational tournament is expected to give the Sables the ideal preparations for the CAR Africa Cup Group 1A competition in Madagascar from July 22-28.
