Zimpapers Logo

Paul Munyuki Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Rugby Union have approached the International Rugby Board asking for funding that would take care of their preparations and games for the remaining World Cup qualifiers over the next two months.
After finishing second to Namibia in the Africa Cup that also served as the region’s qualifier tournament for the World Cup, Zimbabwe will meet Russia on August 2 in Krasnoyarsk in a play-off.

Zimbabwe are aiming at having a week’s camp in Russia, and ZRU president John Falkenberg said they wanted to help the players to get used to the conditions in that country.

“Details at the moment are still sketchy but our proposed plan is that we are not going to have a local camp but we are going to have a camp in Siberia for a week because we want the players and the technical team to get used to the conditions in that country.

“But full details that include the naming of the travelling side, if there are going to be any changes to the side, or any other preparations schedule, will be known early next week.”

Loose forward Njabulo Ndlovu is one player unlikely to make it to Siberia as he suffered a hairline fracture on one of his legs and has been ruled out for at least three weeks.

A 10-day local camp is all the Sables had before playing in Madagascar but they did better than the likes of Kenya who spent fortunes on camping in South Africa for two months playing in the Vodacom Cup and hired a more experienced foreign coach.

ZRU general manager Sifiso Made yesterday said funding would be key if the Sables are to qualify for the World Cup.

“The IRB has always paid for our travelling expenses but our main worry is about our preparations throughout the qualifiers and Colleen (De Jong ZRU executive vice-president) and Liam (Middleton, director of rugby) have spoken to them about our financial position,” said Made.

Russia are ranked 20th on the IRB world rankings and Zimbabwe are currently 27th, their highest since the ranking system was introduced.