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Allen Khumalo, Sports Reporter
A 30-man Sables’ squad trooped into camp at the weekend to prepare for their away Africa Cup encounter with Senegal on June 24.

This year’s Africa Cup competition, which also acts as a 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifier, will see six teams vying for the championship. Kenya, Namibia, Uganda and Zimbabwe from the 2016 Division 1A will be joined by Senegal and Tunisia from Division 1B.

Teams will play in a round-robin format, with the bottom two teams being eliminated from the qualifiers.

After the Senegal trip, Zimbabwe will head to Windhoek for a clash with Namibia on July 15 before hosting Kenya on July 22.

A week later, the Sables will play Tunisia in Harare before completing their campaign with a tie against Uganda on August 5.

Despite missing key players, Sables coach Cyprian Mandenge said he was confident his team would have a positive start.

“I don’t know much about Senegal, which I believe is a good thing. I keep telling players that there is only one thing you can control in a match and that’s how you play. You can’t control the referee and the opposition, so we just need to focus on how we want to do our things. We should focus on our defence, our attack patterns or whatever zones we are in. I know they (Senegal) are big boys, they will be very physical. It’s a good thing to know about your opponents’ game, but we should not dwell so much on that because sometimes you waste time on such things instead of focusing on things that we can do and improve on,” said Mandenge.

He said they would not take their matches lightly, as they aim to qualify for the 2019 World Cup. Mandenge also believes a good start in the competition will ensure good performances in future games.

“Winning is a habit and losing can become a habit as well. We need to challenge ourselves and say we want to go all the way and win the Africa Cup this year, so that winning becomes a habit for us. That’s what I’m looking forward to and I want to win every game as a coach. I believe in the players that have put their hands up and I’m happy to work with them. They are exciting players,” he said.

Sables training squad

Forwards: Denford Mutamangira, Lawrence Cleminson, Irvine Nduwa, Brian Makamure, Tolerance Zishe, Graham Cochrane, Takudzwa Bvunzawabaya, Brian Nyaude, Witness Mandizha, Fortune Chipendu, Takudzwa Mandiwanza, Connor Pritchard, Biselele Tshamala, Lucky Sithole and Osborne Muhambi

Backs: Hilton Mudariki, Scott Jones, Joshua Gando, Tichafara Makwanya, Lenience Tambwera, Gideon Muyambo, Tarisai Mugariri, Daniel Capsopoulos, Boyd Rouse, Ngoni Chibuwe, Stephan Hunduza, Takudzwa Kumadiro, Tadius Hwata and Tinashe Gwisai.

@khumzallen