The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema
THE Zimbabwe Sevens team finds itself in unfamiliar bushes.
As reigning Africa Cup champions, and after their brief dalliance with some of the world’s top teams at last year’s Dubai and Cape Town Sevens series, a wave of high expectations is following the Cheetahs.
“Yeah, we are sure to have a target on our backs when we go to defend our title at this year’s Africa Cup,” admits Germany based winger Tafadzwa Chitokwindo.
“As the reigning champions all eyes will be on us, not just as we seek to defend our title but to also prove to everyone, and ourselves, that last year’s win was not a fluke.
“The fact that this year Africa Cup will double as Olympic qualifiers only adds to the pressure.”’
MaRubber, as Chitokwindo is famously known within local rugby circles, is no stranger to pressure – he is the Cheetah’s talisman and one of coach Gilbert Nyamutsamba’s most trusted hands.
The Zimbabwe Rugby Union has released a draft programme featuring trips to Hong Kong, Italy, Zambia, Lesotho, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa.
Chitokwindo reckons the tournaments on the table will give the Cheetahs the game time they need before embarking on their title defence mission.
“We have been together for some time now, team synergy is definitely there but we need to test ourselves against quality opposition and these tournaments will definitely give us that.
“That said, striking a balance between the pressure and expectations of Olympic qualification and the excitement and confidence of being defending champions will be key.
“We just have to concentrate on the things we can change that is how we prepare, how we play and how we handle game situations,” he said.
Chitokwindo revealed that the team came back from last year’s Dubai and Cape Town Sevens with some swagger.
“The Dubai and Cape Town tournaments will probably go down as key moments in our growth,” he said.
“Yes, we lost all our games and that was quite unfortunate, but one of the key lessons from both tournaments is that they allowed us to truly gauge our standing in world sevens rugby.
“Most of our games were close encounters and that really gave us a boost in confidence and it’s beginning to show in the way we are going about business. We believe in ourselves more and believe that we can certainly go toe to toe with any team in the world.”
