The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe national 15s rugby team, the Sables, have been given a chance to redeem themselves by returning to the elite Africa Cup Division 1A with the qualifiers set for early next year.
An electronic mail sent by Africa Rugby on 13 September shows that 1B, where the Sables have been relegated to from 1A will be played between January and February next year. The winner of Africa Cup 1B will then go up to play in the elite 1A in June and July. The Africa Cup Division 1A champions in 2018 will automatically get to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
So far 12 countries are guaranteed an appearance at the 2019 Rugby World Cup after finishing in the top three in their respective pools at last year’s tournament in England. These are Argentina, Australia, England, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. Another eight teams will book their place at the tournament through the regional qualifiers and repachage process.
It is this qualification process that seems to have prompted the Zimbabwe Rugby Union to give Cyprian Mandenge another shot as Sables coach. Mandenge resigned from the post last month over the team’s poor display. Under his guidance, the Sables won only two out of the nine matches they played and have lost seven games in a row. The ZRU leadership resisted the temptation to give the job to Brendan Dawson, the man Mandenge has previously assisted and eventually succeeded.
Even though ZRU have not yet formally announced Mandenge’s reengagement as Sables head coach, it is understood that he has been given his job back. Mandenge’s immediate task is to prepare the Sables for the four-team Hong Kong Cup of Nations in November.
Meanwhile, the gloom surrounding Zimbabwean rugby continues after the country’s national sevens rugby team failed to qualify for next year’s Hong Kong tournament that is used as a World Series qualifier. The Daniel Hondo coached Cheetahs started off their participation at the Africa Cup on a disastrous note when they were beaten 19-14 by Uganda. They went on to clobber Mauritius 54-0 but that was too late as Uganda sealed a spot in the semifinals. Uganda went on to beat Namibia 38-19 in the final to book their spot in Hong Kong.
@Mdawini_29
