The weekend action is part of the three 7s tournaments scheduled to take place in the coming months. BDF Cheetahs will host the next tournament while the Canon Jaguars will organise the other competition.
Hogs manager, Lynn Warburton said the tournament, sponsored by Bokomo Botswana, will be played in two divisions for men and women. “There is no cash prize but there are medals for the top two clubs in each division. The sponsorship covers field preparations, support services, medical standby and medals for each division,” Warburton said.
Speaking to Mmegi Sport, Cheetahs spokesperson, Modesto Madzambi said they have been preparing for the tournament, especially focusing more on players' fitness. “It has been a long time since we played. Fitness is below par because we did not play any friendly games due to strict COVID-19 regulations. We have signed a lot of young players and we are throwing them into the deep end,” he said. Cheetahs go into the tournament with three of its senior players who are currently engaged in the 7s national team. The side also has three women who were part of the national 7s team that competed recently in the Rugby Africa 7s qualifiers in Lesotho.
Madzambi said they have released some ageing players. Cheetahs will field two men's teams as well as compete in the women’s division with one team. He said the three tournaments will assist national team coaches to select players for the national team that will play the Rugby Africa 7s Cup in Uganda. Cheetahs face stiff competition from Hogs and Canon Jaguars. Rhinos coach, Khina Masinki said they are set for Saturday after playing one friendly game in Jwaneng, which they won 34-31 last weekend. “The players are excited and raring to go. We are still in the rebuilding stage so our expectations are not that high in terms of results tomorrow. We are trying to give the boys and girls game time,” he said.
Rhinos have two players in the 7s national team, Prince Chinga and Keorapetse Lesotlho. Masinki said there are unconfirmed reports that there might be a few changes in the national team, which went to Lesotho in January. Hogs coach, Shaun Lees said they will field two teams for the tournament and believes they are both ready to go. “We will be missing a large chunk of players because they will be playing for the national 7s team. Nonetheless, the boys are going into the games to compete for the top spot. We have our final sessions tonight (Thursday) before we head into the tournament. This week’s focus was to shift the mindset from 15s rugby to that of 7s,” he said.
Lees said he is also excited to see how it all turns out because for the first time, players from the Hogs development team will debut at senior level.
