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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
NAMIBIA are set to be the first country to arrive in the country tomorrow for the inaugural Victoria Falls Sevens rugby tournament set for this weekend in the resort town.

The tournament will bring together five countries — Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Sierra Leone and the hosts Zimbabwe.

The matches will take place at Victoria Falls Primary School on Saturday and Sunday.

Although they had targeted up to 10 countries to send their teams, Zimbabwe Rugby Union officials have shouldered the responsibility for the low turnout.

Countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and Southern Africa neighbours Lesotho were also invited to grace the inaugural event but due to the short notice they could not make it.

However, Zimbabwe Rugby Union vice-president Noddy Kanyangarara said they are still expecting high level of competition at the event.

Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe will field two teams apiece in the senior category while Under-19 sides will also tussle in the competition.

Mbare Academy, Goromonzi, Vainona, Plumtree, Matland and Old Mutual select teams have also confirmed their participation.

Kanyangarara is confident the tournament will grow to become one of the biggest attractions on the country’s calendar in the next five years.

“The preparations for this tournament are already at an advanced stage and we are now putting the final touch-ups. Namibia are arriving on Wednesday (tomorrow) morning.

“Our sevens rugby guys are working on the final squads. They are going to have their final camp either in Bulawayo or Victoria Falls and then trim down their squads to the required numbers. I am sure everything is going on well,” said Kanyangarara.

The tournament is expected to provide Cheetahs coach Gilbert Nyamutsamba with an opportunity to lay a strong foundation in preparation for this year’s regional and international tournaments.

The tourney, which also aims to promote sports tourism in Zimbabwe, will be broadcast live across the continent by the sponsors on their various digital and online platforms.

“Obviously there will not be any financial rewards for the winning teams because this is all about providing the platform for regional teams to prepare for tournaments such as the Africa Cup and those that are going on the IRB circuit.

“We would have loved to have more participants but this is just the beginning.

It was difficult for all of the countries to commit themselves because by the time we confirmed sponsorship with Kwese Sport most of them had since finished working on their calendars for the year,” said Kanyangarara.