Zimbabwe took time out from their preparations for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 to pay a visit to Jebel Ali Primary School in Dubai on Thursday.
The squad only arrived in Dubai on Wednesday but visited the school to present some awards to its budding rugby players and take part in a question and answer session before treating the children to a rendition of their team song.
They then signed autographs and the tournament mascot Saba’a, who has been visiting local schools to collect signatures in support of the 24 men’s and 16 women’s teams taking part in RWC Sevens 2009.
“It’s a great opportunity for our guys to connect to the local community – probably something that we could do back home a bit more,” admitted Zimbabwe coach Liam Middleton.
“It’s a really good atmosphere. The kids are so excited and I think that rubs off on the guys too and makes them feel that they are supported.
“We’ve worked quite hard to get here a bit early before the tournament started and I think that will be an advantage to us.
“We just want to get settled in and it gives us the opportunity to do this sort of thing at schools and just everything that goes with the tournament, rather than just flying in and playing a few games.
“It builds the whole experience of being in a World Cup.”
Full of ambition
Zimbabwe have been drawn in a tough pool with USA Sevens winners Argentina, Wales and Uruguay, but Middleton is adamant his tried and tested players aren’t in Dubai simply to take part.
“That win really puts them [Argentina] up in the top there. We play Argentina quite often though, and we draw Wales quite regularly. We played them in Dubai and George last year and had some good battles there.
“So it’s a tough pool, but all the pools are tough. I think the fact that we have played Argentina and Wales regularly gives us a bit of confidence and to be honest we are quite ambitious so we’re not going to just make up the numbers, we’re really going to have a good crack at it and see how far we can get.
“A lot of teams have brought in two or three key players from international 15s but we have brought our regular squad.
“We had access to some bigger names but as a coach I felt that these are the guys who are the seasoned Sevens players and the guys who can do the job. I think the key thing for us is to raise our performance and raise the bar, which I think these guys can really do.”
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