HARARE — The Zimbabwe Sables, the nation’s 15s squad, will take part in the revived Victoria Cup starting on June 22 as part of their premier Test rugby competition for the year 2019.
The Victoria Cup has been revived and the tournament will involve Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
This comes after confirmation of the cancellation of the Rugby Africa Gold Cup this year as a result of the main sponsor, Kwese Sports, pulling out unexpectedly.
In lieu, thereof, the Victoria Cup has been revived and the tournament will involve Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) will announce the final squad for the Victoria Cup. The larger composition of this squad will be derived from the Zimbabwe Rugby Academy, which had its debut season at the SuperSport Rugby Challenge.
The Sables Trust has expressed its full confidence in sponsoring the national side picked for the Victoria Cup following spirited performances from the Zimbabwe Rugby Academy.
The Zimbabwe Rugby Academy, under head coach Brendon Dawson, in its first season in the competition lost all seven of their games, but managed to push a strong Western Province side close, losing a competitive match 33-13, while also coming within two points of beating the SWD Eagles.
Brendan Dawson has been given the mandate to coach and assemble this Sables team that is set to be announced soon, including his technical team and the new Sables captain.
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Performances from the academy and the Sables are part of the ZRU’s long-term goal of making it into the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and a return to the Victoria Cup will mean Zimbabwe taking part in 13 senior competitive matches in one calendar year.
The Victoria cup match schedule:
June 22: Kenya v Uganda
July 6: Kenya v Zimbabwe
July 13: Uganda v Kenya
July 13: Zimbabwe v Zambia
July 20: Zimbabwe v Kenya
July 27: Uganda v Zimbabwe
July 27: Zambia v Kenya
August 10: Uganda v Zambia
August 17: Kenya v Zambia
August 24: Zimbabwe v Uganda
August 31: Zambia v Uganda
September 14: Zambia v Zimbabwe
ZRU
