The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema
SABLES gaffer Cyprian “Supa” Mandenge has called on all rugby players who deem themselves good enough to wear national colours to come for trials ahead of this year’s Hong Kong Invitational.
Mandenge has also pledged to travel the length and breadth of Zimbabwe in search of talent before the November tournament.
In Harare, the trials begin tomorrow at Prince Edward High School.
“We are saying if you think you are good enough please come and show us what you can do,” he said. “While the main objective is to win the (Hong Kong) tournament, we have to look at the bigger picture which in this case is winning the next editions of the Africa Cup and qualifying for the 2019 IRB World Cup.
“We have a few months to prepare for the Hong Kong invitational and during that time I intend to look at every option at my disposal.
“I was impressed with how the Young Sables played last week, during the Junior Africa Cup Group 1A Tournament, and have already spoken to a couple of them about trying out for the senior team.
“There are a couple of tournaments being played out as we speak, particularly in the southern region and I will also be scouting for talent there.
“Also, the local league is winding down and I intend to have a game made up of select sides drawn from the league.”
Zimbabwe has been invited to take part in the four-nation invitational from November 13-21, where they will test their mettle against Portugal, Russia and hosts Hong Kong.
Preparations begin tomorrow with a squad of probables and hopefuls assembling at Prince Edward, after which players will train three days a week.
Once Mandenge has named his 30-men squad, the team will hold an official camp two weeks prior to departure for Hong Kong.
