{"id":1202,"date":"2020-12-22T19:30:54","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T19:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/south-africa\/?p=1202"},"modified":"2020-12-22T19:30:54","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T19:30:54","slug":"no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup","title":{"rendered":"No need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>CAPE TOWN – The whimper of the past 30 years is turning into a growl. Zimbabwe, Africa\u2019s first ever representative at a Rugby World Cup in 1987, is starting to wake up \u2013 and the ambition is a first World Cup appearance since 1991.<\/p>\n

Springbok tighthead prop Adrian Garvey, for me the best No 3 to play for the Springboks since 1992, was among those who played for Zimbabwe in the 1991 World Cup. He believes it is possible. Garvey scored a try at the 1991 World Cup in one of his 10 appearances for Zimbabwe before moving to KwaZulu-Natal and playing for the Sharks and then the Springboks.<\/p>\n

Garvey was in Zimbabwe a week ago to promote coach Brendan Dawson\u2019s plea to sponsors to add financial weight to the ambitions of the national team.<\/p>\n

Another former Springbok, wing Tonderai Chavhanga, was also there. Chavhanga, who scored a record six tries for the Springboks against Uruguay is now the national team backline coach.<\/p>\n

Former Wallabies captain David Pocock wasn\u2019t in Zimbabwe this week, but the Zimbabwean-born Pocock has always been vocal in his admiration for the rugby talent in Zimbabwe and in his support for a Zimbabwe team good enough to make it to the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Pocock, who played 81 Tests for the Wallabies, left Zimbabwe as a 12 yearold, and while he left with his family, his heart never left the country of his birth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been in touch with some of the coaches involved with Zimbabwean rugby and they are really trying to get their structures in place to be able to hold talent in the country,\u201d Pocock recently said in a media interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, you are going to lose your best overseas, but in an ideal world, they will be playing overseas and then coming back for international duties.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a view shared by Garvey. \u201cLet\u2019s scout for the best Zimbabwean rugby talent, be it in Zimbabwe or those players eligible who are playing overseas,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is so much passion for the game in Zimbabwe and with financial investment and quality talent identification they can build a team good enough to qualify for France 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brendan Dawson, a veteran of the 1991 World Cup and a former captain of Zimbabwe, is the national coach, and he has made it his mission statement to get Zimbabwe to the World Cup for the first time in more than 30 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will qualify,\u201dDawson told potential investors and sponsors. \u201cAnd we will compete at the World Cup. We won\u2019t be a team that will just be playing. We have got immense talent within our country and abroad,\u201d he said, in an impassioned cry for help from those with financial weight.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease think about it, all of you in the corporate world, of how you can help. From donating caps to a million dollars; it all goes a long way. I said it to the players and I am saying it to those of you who love Zimbabwe; give us commitment, desire and the will to help and whatever you can, to drive us forward to France 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garvey, who was in attendance, was moved by Dawson\u2019s emotion and passion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know his character from when we played for Zimbabwe. I know what the jersey and the country mean to him. He has my support and I hope he has the support of a hell of a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe currently are a lowly 35th in the global rankings and last won the Africa Gold Cup in 2012. The Gold Cup is the premier international Tier two competition in Africa. The Springboks obviously don\u2019t play in the Gold Cup.<\/p>\n

But several Zimbabwean-born Springboks testify to the talent produced in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

Legendary Springbok captain Gary Teichmann was born in Zimbabwe and so was Bobby Skinstad and Springboks centurion Tendai Mtawarira. The recently retired Scottish flanker David Denton is another Zimbabwean and Italy\u2019s Sebastian Negri hails from Zimbabwe. And let’s not forget prop Brian Mujati.<\/p>\n

Namibia, since 1991, has been the secondary African team at World Cup events, but they\u2019ve struggled and are holders of the unwanted record of losing to Australia 142-0.<\/p>\n

Kenya has improved and Tunisia, for Tier two, is strong.<\/p>\n

But there is so much history with Zimbabwean rugby, of which Dawson wants to remind the world.<\/p>\n

IOL Sport<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. CAPE TOWN – The whimper of the past 30 years is turning into a growl. Zimbabwe, Africa\u2019s first ever representative at a Rugby World Cup in 1987, is starting to wake up \u2013 and the ambition is a first World Cup appearance since 1991. Springbok tighthead prop Adrian Garvey, for me the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[274,275],"class_list":["post-1202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nNo need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – South-Africa. CAPE TOWN – The whimper of the past 30 years is turning into a growl. Zimbabwe, Africa\u2019s first ever representative at a Rugby World Cup in 1987, is starting to wake up \u2013 and the ambition is a first World Cup appearance since 1991. Springbok tighthead prop Adrian Garvey, for me the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-22T19:30:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe23230691de.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"651\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"No need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-22T19:30:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup\"},\"wordCount\":732,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe23230691de.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup\",\"name\":\"No need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe23230691de.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-22T19:30:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe23230691de.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe23230691de.jpg\",\"width\":651,\"height\":366,\"caption\":\"No need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"No need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"No need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup - South Africa","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"No need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup","og_description":"Africa-Press – South-Africa. CAPE TOWN – The whimper of the past 30 years is turning into a growl. Zimbabwe, Africa\u2019s first ever representative at a Rugby World Cup in 1987, is starting to wake up \u2013 and the ambition is a first World Cup appearance since 1991. Springbok tighthead prop Adrian Garvey, for me the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2020-12-22T19:30:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":651,"height":366,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe23230691de.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"No need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup","datePublished":"2020-12-22T19:30:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup"},"wordCount":732,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe23230691de.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","homepage-english","sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup","name":"No need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe23230691de.jpg","datePublished":"2020-12-22T19:30:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe23230691de.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe23230691de.jpg","width":651,"height":366,"caption":"No need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/no-need-to-smell-the-coffee-zim-can-make-world-cup#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"No need to smell the coffee: Zim can make World Cup"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}