Sables skipper rallies troops Denford Mutamangira

Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
SABLES captain Denford Mutamangira wants his troops to minimise their errors as Zimbabwe take on Tunisia this afternoon with the visitors needing a victory to rescue their faltering Rugby Africa Gold Cup campaign.

The Sables and the Tunisians, who are both winless in these 2019 World Cup qualifiers, will clash in Beja while another Gold Cup encounter today is an East African derby involving bitter rivals Kenya and Uganda in Nairobi.

The Gold Cup qualifiers have been a rude awakening to Sables high-profile coach Peter De Villiers who had been used to the glitz and the glamour of the Rugby Championship with the Springboks.

There are no such dirty games there like the hostility his Sables faced in Tunis but the veteran coach would have to learn and adjust to the changed environment.

Mutamangira, who clocked 50 caps for the Sables last Saturday in Kenya, said it was time for his men to deliver.

“The last couple of days have been good, we went through our normal routine of analysing the previous and upcoming game and we are preparing in the best way we can,’’ he said.

“All I can say is we are ready one more training today, which is the captain’s run before the game tomorrow.

‘‘We can’t wait to play tomorrow . . . it’s going to be a tense game, that I can tell you for sure, but we are going to be calm and collected and make sure we do what we came here to do.’’

He said they would not abandon the offloads that have cost them turn over in possession at critical phases of the game.

“We are going to do some offloads and we may not get all of them right but we want to keep the error rate down compared to the previous games. We want to keep on improving’’.

Mutamangira also expects the Tunisians who were hammered 118-0 by Namibia to offer a game almost similar to their fellow North Africans Morocco.

De Villiers made four changes to the side that took to the field against Kenya with flanker Connor Pritchard, returning home after the Simbas Test to join the Cheetahs.

Veteran flanker Fortune Chipendo has been relegated to the bench as has been scrumhalf Ernest Mudzengerere who has been replaced by Peter Du Toit and winger Takudzwa Kumadiro makes way for Dylan Baptista.

Team manager Derek Chiwara is confident the changes will bring a different dimension and help unlock the Tunisians.

The Tunisians have been mocking the Sables for rejecting the hotel they were initially given by posting images of themselves sleeping in the streets.

They have flooded social media with their pictures sleeping on the streets saying they were doing so because there was no Wi-fi in their hotel, in an apparent jibe at the Sables.

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