ZIMBABWE Sevens rugby team coach, Gilbert Nyamutsamba has widened his selection base by including three new faces in his training squad for the HSBC World Sevens Series core team qualifying tournament at the Hong Kong Sevens early next month.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
The Cheetahs will be looking to qualify for the lucrative HSBC World Sevens Series starting next season, when they battle it out against 11 other nations for the sole ticket during this year’s qualifiers on April 6 to 8, 2018 in Hong Kong.
Former Zimbabwe youth internationals, Connor Pritchard and Brendon Mandivenga together with South Africa-based gasman, Ziyanda Khupe are the only players in the 15-man squad yet to feature on the World Sevens Series circuit.
The trio put themselves in contention for a place in Nyamutsamba’s 12-man final squad after some impressive showings during the Kwesé Victoria Falls Sevens tournament last weekend.
Australia-based Pritchard and Khupe were part of the Cheetahs squad, which narrowly lost 10-5 to Kenya in the cup final, while former Young Sables star, Mandivenga produced some eye-catching performances for Zimbabwe’s second string Goshawks side, which was led by assistant coach Tangai Nemadire.
Cheetahs team manager, Donald Mangenje told NewsDay Sport that the young trio would give the technical department more options ahead of a very important assignment in Hong Kong.
“Connor is known better from playing 15s with the Sables, but we felt he could be a good fit for Sevens as well. He played Sevens at Under-18 level and was part of the squad for the previous Youth African Games held in Botswana. Looking at the way he played in Victoria Falls, we feel we could mould him into a complete Sevens player. “As for Ziyanda Khupe, he is new to the system and still needs a bit of polishing, but we feel that we can again invest in him and use him as a supporting gasman, to Tafadzwa Chitokwindo.
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“Mandivenga, on the other hand, is a complete rugby player; he’s got the skill to play Sevens and just needs a bit of game time. Even though it was his first playing Sevens in Victoria Falls, he certainly showed he’s definitely got what it takes to play Sevens at the top level,” Mangenje said.
Zimbabwe, who are making a return to the important qualifying tournament, after missing out in 2017 will be hoping to progress from Pool F, where they will play Germany, Papua New Guinea and hosts Hong Kong.
Uganda are in Pool E alongside Japan, Chile and Georgia, while the last in the qualifying tournament features Ireland, Uruguay, Jamaica and Cook Islands.
Cheetahs training squad for Hong Kong Sevens
Hilton Mudariki, Biselele Tshamala, Connor Pritchard, Boyd Rouse, Ziyanda Khupe, Ngoni Chibuwe, Shayne Makombe, Tafadzwa Chitokwindo, Njabulo Ndlovu, Hilton Mudariki, Lenience Tambwera, Stephan Hunduza, Riaan O’Neil, Brendon Mandivenga, Gardner Nechironga
Head coach: Gilbert Nyamutsamba
Assistant coach: Tangai Nemadire
Team manager: Donald Mangenje
Physio: Maggy Gibson
