Sables not breaking camp CHARGING SABLE . . . Zimbabwe’s Tafadzwa Kamandiro streaks away with the ball during the Sables match against the Kenyan Simbas in Bulawayo on Saturday — (Picture courtesy of Sunday News)
CHARGING SABLE . . . Zimbabwe’s Tafadzwa Kamandiro streaks away with the ball during the Sables match against the Kenyan Simbas in Bulawayo on Saturday — (Picture courtesy of Sunday News)

CHARGING SABLE . . . Zimbabwe’s Tafadzwa Kamandiro streaks away with the ball during the Sables match against the Kenyan Simbas in Bulawayo on Saturday — (Picture courtesy of Sunday News)

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe senior rugby team will not break camp as they seek to bounce back to winning ways in the Africa Rugby Gold Cup when they host Tunisia at Prince Edward School this weekend.

The Sables, who are still smarting from the 41-22 defeat to Kenya at the Hartsfield Grounds in Bulawayo on Saturday, have another shot at redemption on home soil against the winless North Africans.

Coach Cyprian Mandenge yesterday said good preparations were needed to get the Sables back on their feet.

“We are not breaking camp because there is another equally important assignment coming up. We have to be physically and mentally up for this match. So we will be training twice every day until the match day.

“We have to be mentally ready because I think it’s one of the things that affected us in the last game against Kenya.

“We also need to pay particular attention to the diet and nutritional aspects of our preparations to manage our recovery. It’s one thing that we also feel wasn’t done properly ahead of that game,” said Mandenge.

With the big ambitions to win the Africa Rugby Gold Cup now out of reach, the Sables have been left to fight at least to retain their place in Group A1.

They sit on fourth place on the log standings above the winless duo of Senegal and Tunisia with two rounds of matches remaining.

Zimbabwe had opened their campaign with a victory over Senegal but the successive losses to Namibia and Kenya have also dent their hopes of qualifying for the 2019 World Cup.

Mandenge remains hopeful of a strong finish ahead of the two games against Tunisia at home and Uganda away next week. Zimbabwe were boosted by the recovery of skipper Denford Mutangamira from a collar-bone injury but there were new concerns over Hilton Mudariki and Gavin Nyawata.

“It’s a game by game approach because no two games are exactly the same. The loss against Kenya is now water under the bridge and we have to make sure that we work very hard on our game so that we improve our performances in the next assignment.

“I’m glad we are at home against Tunisia. Of course, it is a big challenge because everyone is fighting to stay in Group A1. So we have no choice but to win our games. Everyone in our squad knows what is at the stake.

“Tunisia are also on record saying they are targeting Zimbabwe and Senegal in the group so we need to be prepared for them. All the teams in this group have the capacity to win against any other,” said Mandenge. Namibia remained top of the table with a perfect record this season following their 48-24 victory away at Uganda at the weekend.

Kenya are also still in the race for the title which comes with a slot to the 2019 World Cup in Japan as the teams are only separated by three points ahead of the decisive clash in Windhoek this weekend.

Uganda are a distant third and followed by Zimbabwe. The winner of the six-team group will join automatic qualifiers South Africa at the 2019 World Cup while the team that finishes bottom will be relegated to the second-tier Silver Cup.

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