Lady Cheetah for Hernamus tourney

22 Feb, 2019 - 00:02 0 Views

eBusiness Weekly

Chipo Sabeta and Jeffrey Murimbechi
Zimbabwe’s national women’s sevens rugby side is set to travel to Cape Town in South Africa today for the inaugural Hermanus Women’s Rugby Tournament that kicks off this Saturday.

Affectionately known as the Lady Cheetahs, the Zimbabwe side will battle it out against 10 other South African teams including the SA Women’s Sevens team, Tygerberg Ladies and Boland Rebels.

For Zimbabwe this is a welcome invitational tourney that provide the much needed competitive time as well as an opportunity to lure more provincial unions to invite them onto the field.

Cheetahs Coach Abigail Kawonza says for now, her swift felines have their eyes cast on the Kwese Sevens tournament slated for March 2019.

She says that her charges are relishing the opportunity to test themselves against some of the continent’s top teams during 2019.

“Cape Town is a step towards preparing for Kwese (Sevens) where we will field two teams comprising players from all over Zimbabwe. We have seen talent coming out of Gweru and excited to see what they offer.”

“This is in preparation for the Africa Cup that will be later on in the year. We hope our financial ducks will all be in a row to achieve what the team and nation wants for women’s rugby,” she said.

Kawonza, whose squad boasts of an exciting blend of upcoming youthful players from the fast growing schools system and seasoned veterans, said she was expecting a tough challenge for her players.

She added: “We pray the girls play their hardest and bring all they’ve learnt to the first day games. We always hope for the best but we are totally appreciative of the exposure, since we have very little game time in the year.”

The Hermanus Women’s Rugby Tournament will have two groups, with each team competing in four group matches each.

The winner of group A will face the Runner- Up of group B in the 1st Semi-Final, while the Winner of group B will face the Runner-Up of group A in the 2nd Semi-Final, to determine the tournament finalists.

Top teams to look out for include the South Africa Women7s Side, Tygerberg Ladies, Boland Rebels and Busy Bees.

Unfortunately, resource constraints have hampered the Lay Cheetah’s training, but, this has not dampened the spirits of the ladies whose mission is to reach the pinnacle of African sevens rugby at the Africa cup and other regional events.

But with the leadership of Kawonza, who has been actively involved in Zimbabwe women’s rugby structures as a player, referee, administrator and now as coach, the ladies are promising to break barriers this season.

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