Zimbabwe Sables have announced their squad that will be on duty in the Currie Cup match against Ivory Coast Elephants scheduled for Friday at 9:00 PM Zimbabwean Time (10:00 PM EAT).
The side chasing the first-ever world since 1990s has Hilton Mudariki at scrum-half while Marcus Nel is at fly-half. Shingirai Katsvere, Shayne Makombe, Tapiwa Mafura are the back three with Takudzwa Cheiza and Mathew McNab forming the midfield partnership.
The backrow has Nyasha Tarusenga, Klevin Kanenungo and Jason Fraser. Godfrey Muzanargwo and Seab Beevor are the locks. Victor Mupunga, Liam Larken and Bornwell Gwinji lead the pack.
The Sables qualified for the quarters after topping their pool in 2021 and will be looking to qualify for the Semis to keep the hope alive.
Zimbabwe will go into their crunch Rugby Africa 2022 encounter full of confidence after surging up the World Rugby Men’s Rankings.
The Sables’ 30-7 win against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Saturday came with a reward of 2.62 points, taking their overall rating to 54.44 points and moving them up to 27th in the rankings. The Dutch drop two places to 28th.
The winner of the eight-team knockout competition will book a return to France 14 months later as Africa 1 at RWC 2023. The Africa 1 qualifier has been drawn in Pool A alongside New Zealand, hosts France, Italy and Uruguay.
Whoever finishes as runners-up following the much-anticipated Rugby Africa Cup 2022 final on 10 July will still have a chance of qualifying for RWC 2023 through the Final Qualification Tournament.
