HARARE - Zimbabwe sevens rugby coach, Liam Middleton, will be hoping the young players drawn into his side will rise to the occasion when the Cheetahs face tough assignments in the 2010 Hong Kong series, set to roar into life, tomorrow. (Pictured: Human Cheetahs captain, Jacques Leitao with animal Diesel.)
Graham Kaulback, Njabulo Ndlovu, Matthew Rowe and Shingai Chiwanga travelled with the Cheetahs last weekend as sevens rugby got a boost of talented youngsters. “We want to continue looking at expanding our core squad so that we achieve so much with them in sevens rugby circles. The unavailability of our senior players should not be a setback, these young players need to stand and experience such a high level of competition, said Middleton.
Kaulback toured with us late last year and he looks to be an exciting prospect and also Njabulo (Ndlovu) has been doing well,” he said. Senior player Slatter Ndlovu was eliminated because of an injury as South Africa based duo of Tangai Nemadire and Gerald Sibanda turned down national duty for club commitments.
But the talented though inexperienced young players will look up to the veteran seniors such as Gardner Nechironga, Jacques Leitao, Daniel Hondo and Grant Mitchell as they face South Africa, Kenya and Korea in their pool assignments tomorrow.
It is going to be challenging, said Middleton. Games against South Africa and Kenya usually give us a tough challenge. Korea is also quite an organised and good side. We are going to do our best and aim to win one or two matches in our pool.
Cheetahs Squad: G Nechironga, S Chiwanga, F Chipendo, N Ndlovu, G Kaulback, A Ndangana, M Sitah, S Jones, J Leitao, G Mitchell, M Rowe, D Hondo.
Post published in: Rugby