• • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • Technorati
  • Reddit
  • Stumble Upon
  • Furl

Zimbabwe’s assistant coach Gilbert Nyamutsamba has backed Zimbabwe to progress from the group phase of the IRB Sevens World Cup in Dubai next week.

They find themselves in Pool F where they were drawn against Argentina, Uruguay and Wales, kicking off their campaign with a date against the Welsh on the tournament’s opening day on March 5.

The Cheetahs also face-off against Argentina who recently won of the last leg of the IRB Sevens World Series in San Diego.

Nyamutsamba, however, believes the Cheetahs could turn the underdog tag to their favour;

"This could give us a chance to beat Argentina because I think that they will be overconfident as they have just come from winning the San Diego leg.

"We should just capitalise on that and we should know that not every Sevens team has won in the IRB Sevens Series in a consistent way.

"It has been a long time since Argentina won a leg of the series and I also believe that by the fact that we are there (at the World Cup) we are like most of the teams there.

"There is not going to be much difference though we can also judge Zimbabwe from the way they played at both the Dubai and George tournaments last year," said Nyamutsamba.

Zimbabwe won a Shield at George, South Africa, in December last year after beating Scotland 26-0 but ultimately came back empty-handed from the Dubai leg of the series.

"Wales have always been a bogey side to us, but we are able to match the teams that we have been drawn against.

"We know little about Uruguay save for the fact that they are not one of the teams that are on the IRB circuit so I think they will not be much of a problem to deal with," he said.

The outspoken assistant also believes African teams at the rugby tournament might not go far due to different reasons, including injuries.

"It would be tricky for the African teams because at the moment if we look at South Africa, they are rocked by injuries and that would contribute a lot to the way they play. Maybe if they are able to recover before the tournament kicks off.

"Kenya blow hot and cold so they are not really consistent in their play and I believe Tunisia will be the worst performer in teams of the African teams," added Nyamutsamba.

However head coach Liam Middleton is perhaps a little more realistic about his sides chances and admits he would have loved to have had the opportunity to play in either Wellington or San Diego. This would have allowed him to fine tune ahead of the World Cup and with their three opponents already having that luxury.

“Definitely it is a disadvantage (for us not be playing there). Our involvement in Dubai and George is very useful for us because it doesn’t matter how many other tournaments you play, it is never the same as playing in IRB tournaments at that level where it is extremely competitive.

“It is a big advantage to them. Even for Uruguay having the IRB tournament so close to the World Cup will be an advantage. For Argentina and Wales, having two back to back tournaments, the physicality of those two weeks, the benefits for them physically, technically and tactically for fine tuning, to be able to finalise their squad and to play against teams they will play in the World Cup,” said Middleton.