THE Zimbabwe Rugby Union will today unveil a partnership with Econet Media’s pay-TV service Kwesé TV, which will see the country hosting a high-profile international sevens rugby tournament in the resort town of Victoria Falls next month.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
While the finer details of the international tournament will be announced at a Press briefing in the capital today, NewsDay Sport understands that the tournament will take place in the popular resort town on March 18 and 19.
The tournament, which will be named Kwesé Victoria Falls Sevens, is expected to go a long way in boosting the development of rugby sevens in the country after the sport code became an Olympic sport at Rio 2016.
Zimbabwe, widely regarded as a sevens rugby powerhouse on the continent after Kenya and South Africa, has not hosted an international sevens rugby tournament since 2014.
The sevens tournament was in its fourth year, having generated a lot of interest locally due to the participation of top international teams such as South Africa, Russia, Hong Kong, Georgia and fellow African sides Namibia and Kenya, before it was discontinued.
Most of the international teams used the Zimbabwe International Sevens as a platform to prepare for the annual Hong Kong Sevens Series.
South Africa 7s Academy side won the last edition of the Zimbabwe International Sevens held at Harare Sports Club two years ago, defeating hosts Zimbabwe 21-15 in the final.
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The original plans for this tournament, however, have always been to have it in Victoria Falls so as to attract more international teams, but with no venue at the tourist resort, ZRU have in the past been forced to hold in the capital.
However, the partnership with Kwesé TV is expected to make the dream of hosting an international rugby tournament in Victoria Falls a reality although the challenge will be to come up with a stadium of international standards.
