The Zimbabwe Sevens rugby team have started preparations for this year's World Cup in San Francisco, with coach Gilbert Nyamutsamba lining up a series of training camps aimed at identifying fresh talent to broaden their player base.
The Zambezi Cheetahs confirmed their fifth appearance at the Rugby World Cup Sevens after coming second to hosts Uganda at the Rugby Africa Sevens Championships last October.
Nyamutsamba is determined to assemble a team good enough to compete at the San Francisco Games in July. The next training camp is set for South Africa in mid-February, with the coach also eager to tap into a growing band of Zimbabwean talent who have relocated to that country over the years.
He hopes to identify a core of 20 players to take to the Hong Kong Sevens in April, after which the team will be further trimmed to 12 ahead of their World Cup appearance.
"We have no guaranteed positions right now. The team is open for competition and anyone who is willing to put their hand up, they will all be given an opportunity to show themselves," Nyamutsamba told KweséESPN this week.
"Our main objective is to do all we can to prepare our players such that when we get to the World Cup, we can be very competitive. We really want to make a mark at the World Cup. We are going out there to give our best performance."
A group of 32 players attended the Harare camp, and Nyamutsamba was particularly gratified that 26 of them were new names he had never worked with before.
Although Zimbabwe did well to finish second behind hosts Uganda at the continental qualifiers last year, there were still areas of concern, with some expressing disappointment at the manner in which the team struggled to finish off matches.
Zim squandered a 7-0 halftime lead against Uganda in the final to eventually lose 10-7, and that after Madagascar had given them a fright in the semi-finals despite leading 14-0 at one stage.
The coach himself believes the injection of fresh talent and the ensuing competition for places should bring out the best in his team and see them close games out.
"I am hoping with more players that are interested in playing Sevens, [the current players should] see that there is a bit of pressure coming from new players and that can only help us to be a better team," he said.