The Cheetahs landed in Harare this morning ahead of tomorrow’s match against the Blue Bulls at the National Sports Stadium.
This match, between two of South Africa’s top Super Rugby sides, is the first rugby to be played at the stadium in nearly twenty years. Although the match is a pre-season friendly, local rugby fans had bought more than 14,000 tickets by Monday.
The Bulls have been in Zimbabwe for a week already, spending time in pre-season training and enjoying activities such as white water rafting at Victoria Falls, and a round of golf on the Borrowdale Brooke course.
Key to their visit was training sessions with Zimbabwe’s rugby playing school children, including those from disadvantaged high density areas, including Mbare.
One such training session took place on the green fields of Heritage School on Wednesday.
The Bulls’ team bus arrived to excited cheers from the youngsters and assembled onlookers, but autographs and photos had to wait as the Bulls coach quickly split the players into groups of about ten, each with a few Bulls players, and spread them around the field to work on specialised drills. They practised passing, tackling, and side-stepping, with an emphasis on attacking space rather than opponents, and using cunning and speed rather than brute strength to gain ground. (See photos below)
It was hard to tell who was having the most fun as the youngsters celebrated tries with victory dances and high-fived their Bulls trainers.
The captain for Saturday’s match against the Cheetahs, Marvin Orie, ended the session with an address to the students, stressing the importance of having fun in rugby and keeping sight of why you’re playing.
Tomorrow’s game kicks off at 3pm, tickets are $10.
Curtain raisers include Mabvuku vs Mbare High (10am), Girls High Vs Vainona (11am), St John’s vs Kyle College (12pm), and the not-to-be-missed Prince Edward vs Churchill match (1pm).
In Pictures: The Blue Bulls visit to Heritage School on Wednesday