Botswana targets glory at rugby sevens Olympic qualifiers

Botswana men's rugby sevens team left the country a determined lot on Thursday night to Kigali, Rwanda where they will play the Olympic Pre Qualifier tournament.

The one day tournament will be played on Saturday July 25th in the Rwandan capital.

Speaking to Xinhua ahead of the team's departure, coach Seabe Gabatladiwe said his team is oozing with confidence being the top ranked team for the tournament.

Botswana ranks top of the five other countries at the tournament including the host Rwanda, Burundi, Mauritius, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia. Botswana is in Pool A alongside Zambia and Burundi.

Gabatladiwe said they prepared very well for the tournament and look ahead to Saturday with very high expectations.

He said they had previously played some of the teams at the tournament and know what to expect in terms of play.

"We had played against most of the teams before so we know what they are capable of," he said. He however noted that they are not expecting to have it any easy as all the teams come to the tournament with strong determination to do well.

The two teams that make it to the final will get a ticket to the final round of the African qualifiers to be played in South Africa in November.

Zambia already qualified for the final qualification tournament and are filling in for Swaziland who pulled out while DRC is not a full affiliate of World Rugby, making only four teams eligible to qualify.

Gabatladiwe said this will make the competition even tougher as only four teams will slot it out for the top two spots. He said his team is a blend of experience and youth who are always determined to do well on the international scene.

With rugby sevens readmitted at the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, countries are jostling for the few allocated spots for each region for the world spectacle. Botswana team returns home on Sunday. Endit