ZIMBABWE Sevens rugby team captain, Hilton Mudariki looks set to return to the side ahead of the Cheetahs’ participation at the inaugural Cape Town Sevens after being sidelined for the past seven weeks due to a hamstring injury.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
The 22-year-old skilful scrumhalf suffered a hamstring injury at the Safari Sevens in Kenya, two months ago, which ruled him out of last month’s Rio Olympic Games qualifiers in South Africa.
The Cheetahs were seconds away from making history, when Kenya scored a last-gasp try to seal a 21-17 victory, which condemned Zimbabwe to next year’s World Rugby Global Olympic repechage tournament.
Having watched from the sidelines as the Cheetahs narrowly missed out on the automatic ticket to Rio de Janeiro, Mudariki said he was looking forward to contributing to the team’s cause if selected for the Cape Town Sevens.
“I had a grade two partial tear in my hamstring, which ruled me out for seven weeks,” Mudariki told NewsDay Sport in an interview yesterday.
“It has been frustrating not being able to train, but the physio here at University of Johannesburg has worked really hard with me to get me ready for the Cape Town 7s.
“Hopefully, I’ll be selected to be part of the squad. It was heartbreaking having to watch from the sidelines in last month’s Olympic qualifiers in Johannesburg, but I am hoping to be selected and to contribute as best I can,” he said.
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The Cape Town Sevens rugby tournament, which is the second leg of the HSBC World Sevens Series, takes place on the weekend of December 12 and 13 and the Cheetahs will only know their opponents at the end of this weekend’s Dubai Sevens.
Cheetahs head coach, Danny Hondo said they were aiming to come back strongly from the Olympic qualifiers’ heartbreak by ending the team’s recent barren spell in the South African leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series.
“If you recall, we are yet to win a match in the last two occasions we have been invited to the South African leg, so we would want to do well this year,” he said.
The Cape Town Sevens will be the Cheetahs’ only appearance on the HSBC Sevens World Series before the Hong Kong Sevens in March next year, where they will be vying for core team status on the lucrative circuit.
Last year, the Cheetahs lost all five matches they played at the then Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens for their second successive campaign.
