Zimpapers Logo

THE Zimbabwe senior men’s rugby 15s team – the Sables – will tonight hope to continue their recent good form as they attempt to end Namibia’s hopes of qualifying for a seventh successive Rugby World Cup.

Zimbabwe warmed up for this year’s Rugby Africa Cup with a 30-7 win against the Netherlands and then ran in five tries to beat Cote d’Ivoire 38-11 in the quarter-finals in Marseille, France, last Friday night.

However, coach Brendon Dawson knows his side will have to improve if they are to defeat Namibia for the first time since 2001.

Dawson captained his country to that 27-26 win in Bulawayo 21 years ago and was also a member of the last Zimbabwe squad to play at Rugby World Cup, in 1991.

“We want to come back to the World Cup,” Dawson said. “It’s a little bit psychological, I think, with some of the guys.

“But I think the performance against the Netherlands, beating a 26th ranked team and doing well against Ivory Coast and doing well in the last two games that we played in the Currie Cup, shows that the guys can do it.

“They’ve got the ability, but it just comes down to confidence and I think they’ve really built on that nicely now.”

What must Zimbabwe do to secure their place in the Rugby Africa Cup final? “We’ve got to make sure that we can play for 80 minutes and play at the same pace and the same tempo that we do for 80 minutes,” Dawson added.

“Obviously, your impact players that come on have got to really lift the standard and make sure that they carry that on through from where we started to where we finish.

“I really believe that if we can maintain that for 80 minutes, I think we’re going to be in the pole seat to hopefully win the game.”

Should Zimbabwe win tonight then they would be only 80 minutes away from securing their place in Pool A at RWC 2023, alongside France, New Zealand, Italy and Uruguay.

“It would definitely be special,” Zimbabwe captain Hilton Mudariki said.

“A lot of us have grown up watching the All Blacks, watching France dominate world rugby. So, an opportunity to be on the field playing against some of those guys would be huge.

“We would be very excited and we just need to make sure that we get through the next couple of games.” – World Rugby News