ZIMBABWE senior rugby team coach Cyprian Mandenge has lamented the absence of foreign-based players in his squad which faces neighbours Zambia in an international friendly at Harare Sports Club today.
BY KENNEDY NYAVAYA
Mandenge was hoping to use the encounter to prepare for the upcoming 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifiers which begin later this month, but will have to make do with a team made up of only locally-based players as most foreign based players due to lack of funds.
“I would not say using local players only was by design, but we called up other foreign players but they could not make it because funds are limited,” he said.
“It is not the best situation because when you play such friendlies you want to use the team that will play future international games but now we just have to use the players that we have locally.”
However, Mandenge also said that the unfortunate reality will positively help prepare locally based players for future national duties in case those based out of the country’s borders fail to come for other games.
“We are using local based players, we want to see who is who so our local talent will play tomorrow,” he said.
“What you put in is what you get, we have international players willing to play for the national team, but are we able to give them something afterwards to help them survive since they live off rugby?” he questioned.
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The Sables will take on their opponents under floodlights at 7pm with a Zimbabwe A squad and the national women’s team taking on their Zambian opponents at 3pm and 5pm respectively.
The matches against a fast improving Zambian side is expected to go a long way in preparing the Sables for the expanded Rugby Africa Gold Cup competition which doubles as qualifiers for the 2019 Rugby World Cup to be held in Japan.
Mandenge’s charges open their Rugby Africa Gold Cup campaign with a tricky away encounter Senegal in Dakar on June 24 before their toughest fixture of the competition against Namibia in Windhoek on July 15.
Zimbabwe are also scheduled to host Kenya at Hartsfield in Bulawayo on July 22 and Tunisia in Harare a week later before concluding their campaign with an away tie against Uganda in Kampala on August 5.
