ZIMBABWE Rugby Union (ZRU) has appointed former national junior sevens rugby team manager Steve Mcdonald as the manager of the Famous Grouse Zimbabwe Sevens team.
BY ALBERT MARUFU
Mcdonald takes over from Bruce Hobson who retired in July, and is expected to start work with the Middleburg Sevens which runs from Friday September 20 to 23.
The union’s general manager, Sifiso Made confirmed that the board had settled for McDonald owing to his experience after having worked with the junior Sevens teams.
“I can confirm that the board met yesterday [Thursday] and the Sevens committee settled for Mcdonald. The details of the contract will be announced later,” he said.
Sevens Committee chairperson Donald Mangenje also confirmed the appointment of Mcdonald as the team’s manager.
“I am out of town, but can confirm that we have settled for Mcdonald. Let me give you his contact number,” he said. Mcdonald could not be reached for comment as his mobile continuously went unanswered.
Mangenje added that most of the applications they received were from outside the country.
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“We got six applicants from outside the country, and this shows how much the Cheetahs brand has grown. We have however, settled for Mcdonald, as he has worked with our various junior teams,” he said.
After the Middleburg Sevens, the team is expected to continue with their preparations until their first IRB World Sevens Series tournament in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in December.
Mcdonald’s predecessor Hobson retired after taking the team to 29 International Rugby Boards tournaments, two Rugby World Cups, including the recent one held in Moscow, Russia this year and three Rugby World Cup qualifiers.
This is in addition to the Confederation of Africa Rugby Champions which the Zimbabwe Cheetahs have won a couple of times, the Castle Sevens Tournament Champions (five times) and the Spar Sevens International tournament in 2012.
