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Thought id present this site to give us poor zimbo's some more exposure..
As you can see its not all Doon n Gloom back in the motherland.. Rugby, especially the Seven code is on the up & up...
hopefully we will see a Zim Team at future prominent comp's such as Hong Kong and maybe even the World Cup in 2011 :D
It's unfortunate that the government is so appalling, otherwise you would be able to develop the code much more swiftly....
Not intending to spark some regional rivalry but Zim rugby had gone, to put it bluntly, to the pits (as with most of your other sporting codes such as cricket). I remember matching up against Zim (7s) in Nairobi 11 years ago and being somewhat "star-struck" (the team included a young Kennedy Tsimba amongst other classy players) prior to the game and more so after the game. Those days, I would imagine, are gone and I doubt the current crop of IRB 7s Circuit-battle hardened Kenyan players would be star-struck when facing The Cheetahs.
However credit is due to Zim for supplying a number of world class fodder to SAfrican rugby, an exodus which undoubtably has led (together with other factors) to the deterioration of Zimbabwe's standards.
I hope for your sake and the sake of African rugby that the resurgence of Zim rugby is indeed at hand. I will concede that Zim beat Kenya in our prized Safari 7s tourny in June this year so there just might be something in it but at the same time, even rugby can have upsets.
The Sevens team has secured a great coach and management team & some strong financial backing and as always where theres money theres progress... The National XV team are still struggling however and i doubt they will be any better than they were 20 years ago.
I too have watched the progress of the Kenyan sevens team with a sense of regional pride as they have struggled for many years to get to where they are now.. a real force in the sevens code.
I will however highlight 2006 as the turn-aroun in Zim Sevens fortunes. The Dubai 7's they beat Kenya & Tunisia convincingly and even managed to put one over a much fancied France.. they also nearly beat Scotland only losing in the dying seconds 19-17.
They lost the bowl final to Argentina 26-7
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The George Sevens was a tough one and they only won one match against Scotland.
it was a good effort though with Mbanje emerging 5th highest try scorer for the tourney.
Match 1 11:52GMT Zim Cheetahs - Samoa Scoreboard 12-28
Match 2 14:26GMT Zim Cheetahs - Fiji Scoreboard 7-47
Match 3 16:38GMT Zim Cheetahs - Canada Scoreboard 0-19
Bowl QF 10:09GMT Zim Cheetahs - Argentina Scoreboard 14-19
Sheild SF 12:31GMT Zim Cheetahs - Scotland Scoreboard 26-19
Sheild Final 15:25GMT Zim Cheetahs - Portugal Scoreboard 12-14
Actually a couple of Zim players turned out for the Bay in the old NPC competition a few years ago. Both were on the wing and pretty classy units. Will see if any of the Bay boys remember names etc.
Just for the Record, Zim have beaten Kenya on the last three occasions we have played. The 15s are also improving, having beaten Limpopo province of South Africa and thrashing Zambia 48-13 last week. There is a clear progression schedule. Zim 7s has also been invited to play at HK sevens as a mark of recognition of the improvement over the last few years, hopefully after this tour we will get back in as a regular. Lastly, while the management and coaching are now world class, and some of our players who still have pride in wearing the National colours, no matter where they are now forced to live, are staying loyal to the homeland (others going off to play for RSA, USA etc), funding is no where near where people think it is when looking at the team from the outside. Stash in the UK sponsors the Shirts (Which still need to be bought, we only get a discount). But things as basic as food or fuel are a daily challenge, much of it provided by team management and friends of the Team. So if anyone knows of any likely sponsors who will get some prime time TV airtime at Dubai, George and HK sevens please put them in touch with the site. Cheers.
Karl Mudzamba plays in the NPC... i think he might be one of the players youre talking about Jethro..