Battle for Olympic qualification set for Harare Sports Club
Story by Lawrence Trusida, Sports Editor
THE Rugby Africa Sevens Cup roars into life this Saturday at Harare Sports Club with all the teams eager to make an impression and seal automatic qualification to the 2024 Olympic Games.
The 12-team Rugby Africa Sevens Cup will see the top team qualifying automatically for next year’s Olympic games, while three runners-up and the third-best team will wait for a final qualification tournament next year.
Hosts, in Zimbabwe have called experienced players and the captain believes that will carry the day for them.
“It is good that we have these guys back because we share the load and some of them have seen more battles than me I believe we are ready to do our best and we trust we are going to make the nation proud,” said Cheetahs captain, Godfrey Magaramombe.
The visiting teams however are eager to steal the show from the hosts.
Uganda captain Ian Munyani said, “We are ready we have a good squad and we are determined to show what we can do but we are going to play each game like a final.”
“We good a good young side eager to make an impression and I believe the stage is right to make our names,” added the captain of Kenya, Vincent Onyala.
Burkina Faso captain Deme Adama added, “I guess we are underdogs here but we want to shock one or two teams and see how far we can go.”
All the teams met at a welcome reception hosted by the French Embassy in Zimbabwe as they are the hosts of the Olympics.
Guest of Honour at the event, Honourable Kirsty Coventry the Minister of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Honourable Kirsty Coventry challenged all the teams to show the African Pride.
Minister of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Honourable Kirsty Coventry said, “We welcome you to Harare and we trust we are going to see the best of Sevens Rugby over the next two days but I want you guys to show the African fight in you and inspire the next generation of Rugby Stars.”
The group stage matches will be played on Saturday while the knockout matches and the final will be on Sunday at Harare Sports Club.
