The Sunday Mail
Sports Reporter
BOUYED by Government’s recent decision to allow sporting activities to resume, the Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) have wasted no time in tasking their technical committee to ensure the game is up and running again.
Rugby, just like all the other local sporting disciplines, finally got the nod from Government, through the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC), to resume training and competitions after an almost two-year Covid-19-induced hiatus.
In granting sport the permission to resume, Government also emphasised the need to observe strict Covid-19 protocols.
It could not have come at the most opportune time for ZRU president Aaron Jani and his executive given the number of international assignments the national teams face.
Jani told The Sunday Mail Sport that they will be preparing four of their national teams for international assignments.
Rugby’s flagship team, the Sables, will naturally lead Zimbabwe’s campaign on the international stage as they look to resume their bid for a place at the 2023 World Cup in France.
The women’s side, the Sevens and the men’s Under-20 outfit will be in action in a few months’ time.
ZRU has promised to pull all the stops to ensure the teams prepare adequately.
“The announcement is very welcome and definitely long overdue for our stakeholders, especially those who are in the clubs.
“For us as a union, it is a big opportunity to prepare for the international assignments that have been on the cards.
“We have games that are coming up in the next three to six months and these will be for the Under-20, the women, the Cheetahs and the Sables.
“So this will give us an opportunity to better prepare for those assignments,’’ Jani said.
The ZRU’s technical committee has been mandated to ensure the teams are fine-tuned for the competitions.
“We have tasked our technical committee to draw up an accelerated programme that will ensure that we achieve two things, which are general fitness and match fitness.
“Their assignment will also cover two areas of playing, which is the short version of the game… the Sevens and so we are looking at a programme which comes initially as a Sevens programme for our clubs.
“Secondly, there is the longer version, which is the Fifteens. We are hoping that we will have at least these two versions played before the end of the year.
“This will allow our selectors to have a look at who they have and who they can pick for all the international assignments in those categories of teams that I have mentioned.
“So we are indeed very excited on that front and there is a lot of work that we have to do to ensure that we get the game time that we require,’’ he said.
To their credit, the ZRU did not just sit back when sporting activities were suspended, and their decision to organise an eight-week training in a bio-bubble in Harare paid off handsomely, as they got their World Cup qualifiers off to a thumping start.
Coach Brendan Dawson and his men, who will now face the Ivory Coast in the quarter-final early next year, powered to huge back-to-back victories over Burkina Faso at Old Georgians Sports Club.
They hammered the West Africans 101-3 in the opening game before sealing their spot as Pool D winners with another convincing 95-5 triumph.
Prior to meeting the Stallions, the Sables had warmed up earlier by engaging Zambia in two international friendlies at Harare Sports Club.
The resumption of the local game also gives local players a chance to impress selectors.
