ZIMBABWE international loose forward Kingsley Lang is expecting another tightly-contested encounter when Old Georgians host wounded South African club, False Bay, in the second round of the Gold Cup competition at their Groombridge base in the capital today.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
Lang led the Zimbabwean club rugby champions from the front when they stunned South African White River Rugby Club after an impressive 18-20 upset win in their own backyard two weeks ago in Mpumalanga.
And the highly-rated former UK-based number eight yesterday said he expected a similar fighting display and hopefully with a similar result when the Dragons, as Old Georgians are affectionately known, face off against the Western Province rugby champions at Old Georgians Sports Club this afternoon.
“It’s basically a similar case to two weeks ago when we didn’t know what to expect from our opposition so it’s just a matter of concentrating on our game and looking after ourselves. We just hope to do what we know we are capable of not worrying about our opposition,” Lang told NewsDay Sport yesterday.
“This is the first time a Zimbabwe club is playing in this tournament so we don’t really mind which side we come up against and we just need to stick to what’s been working in the past games, but we are also aware that we have a couple of thing that we need to fix from our last game,” Lang said.
The Dragons will be without the duo of winger Stephan Hunduza and flank Tendai Dzongodza, who are in Kenya with the national Sevens side, the Cheetahs, for the Africa Cup Sevens while Jonathan McWade and Kuda Chiwanza miss out due to injuries.
Lang, however, believes they have enough depth in their squad to fill the void they are likely to leave behind.
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“It’s basically the same side from two weeks ago with the exception of a few changes. Obviously Stephan Hunduza and Mutare (Tendai Dzongodza) are away with the Cheetahs in Kenya. We were hoping to have Kuda Chiwanza back, but unfortunately he failed a fitness test and is not available, while Jonathan McWade also got injured yesterday (Thursday). We are not worried though as we have enough depth, for instance young Shing should come in his place McWade and we he’s quite capable of filling the void,” Lang said.
False Bay, who lost 26-19 to Valke champions, Siyaya Brakpan, at Bosman Stadium in their Gold Cup opener will head into today’s clash without Zimbabwe international star Riaan O’Neil, who is away in Kenya with the Cheetahs.
Old Georgians Starting XV (1-15): W Petzer, K Murray, D Makanda, R Wild, K De Beer, F Chipendu, J Leitao, K Lang, L Tambwera, F Jijita, B Rouse, D McWade, B Boshi, S Katsvere
