The Zimbabwe senior rugby side, the Cheetahs, have intensified preparations for the Southern Region Castle Sevens tournament with team manager Bruce Hobson naming a 15-man squad to go into camp on next Monday.
The Castle Sevens which runs from August 27-28 in Lusaka will have a new format this year, combining two tournaments – Confederation of African Rugby seeding tournament for national teams and another tournament for provincial teams from the region.
The Cheetahs, who have won the tournament a record four times, will battle it out with the other Southern African national teams for the top seeding while the developmental side the Goshawks will compete with other provincial sides.
Matabeleland were also expected to send a select side for the tournament. In an interview with NewsDay Sport yesterday, Hobson said they would be taking the tournament seriously after the introduction of the new format.
“We are taking this tournament very seriously as the results will have an effect on our seedings for the IRB tournaments like the World Sevens Series.
“A total eight of countries will be taking part in the event this year and this obviously means there will be more competition.
“We have already started our preparations at the Sevens Academy and I have been impressed with the amount of commitment the players have been showing.
“We have about 26 local players some of whom will make the Cheetahs squad while others the Goshawks squad. The Goshawks is our development side mainly composed of players from the national Under-19 squad who recently qualified for the Junior World Rugby Trophy,” said Hobson.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Cheetahs squad: F Chipendu, N Ndlovu, M Sita, J Coles, G Kaulback, K Chiwanza, D Hondo, G Nechironga, W Mbanje, T Chitokwindo, J MacWade, M Morris, G Sibanda, L Machanjaire
