AT last the heavens opened and lady-luck smiled on the Sables. Following a string of unsuccessful attempts in the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) Africa Cup, Zimbabwe finally made it into the semi-finals last Saturday.

Seemingly down and out after the 18-23 defeat at the hands of Madagascar in Antananarivo last month, the Costa Dinha-captained Sables turned the tide and walloped visiting Uganda 17-0.

And now the big stage is beckoning and Brighton Chivandire's men are on the verge of making history by becoming the first Zimbabwean squad to reach the Africa Cup finals. Namibia stand in the way of the Sables as the two clash head-on in Windhoek on Saturday, in the Africa Cup Super 10 semi-finals.

It is a battle for supremacy, one that has pride and image to take care of. Apart from South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe are the only other countries worth mentioning when it comes to rugby in southern Africa.

The Sables have embarked on a journey to recovery with reclamation of their second position behind South Africa, uppermost in their minds. Namibia have taken over from Zimbabwe as southern Africa's second regional rugby powerhouse.

They reached the final of the 2003 Africa Cup but lost to Morocco in Casablanca in February this year. Morocco are already in this year's final and await the winner between Zimbabwe and Namibia.

To reach the semi-finals, Namibia never lost a match in their group. They beat Zambia 52-10 in the first pool game before demonstrating a ruthless streak in their final match against Kenya, thrashing them 65-7.

The Namibians also qualified for both the 1999 and 2003 World Cup finals. The Namibians are devastating when playing at home and in June 2002, they trounced Madagascar 116-0 to register their largest win in history.

Scrum-half, Hakkies Husselman, with four seasons of Africa Cup rugby under his belt, carries the hopes of the Namibians while rangy centre Corne Powell could trouble the Zimbabweans.

Since the turn of the new millennium, the two nations have clashed five times in full international matches and Zimbabwe have managed to beat the Namibians once. That win came in July 2001 in Harare when the Sables won 27-26.

Matches pitting the two nations have always been close, and in their last face-off in Bulawayo, a mere eight points separated them. Namibia won 42-30. Namibia got the better of Zimbabwe again on July 1 2001, winning 31-26 in Harare.

On July 22, 2000, the Sables lost 41-34 in Harare, a week after they had fallen down 15-19 in Windhoek.

Chivandire is confident of pulling a surprise in Windhoek and has players capable of taking the bull by its horns, if the need arises. Eight-man Dinha was in a no-nonsense mood at Old Georgians last Saturday.

Veteran hooker, Mzi Nyathi was on target for the Sables against Uganda while man-of-the-match, Slater Ndlovu, is looking forward to another good outing. Chivandire can use the speed of Augustine 'Gus' Mberi while young Cleopas Makotose is a useful fullback.

Sables team manager Noddy Kanyangarara told StandardSport all was well in the Zimbabwean camp and was upbeat about the squad's chances. 'Following the 17-0 win over Uganda everyone is psyched-up and we are obviously going there with our tails up,' Kanyangarara said

The Sables go into camp today at Old Hararians and are scheduled to depart for Windhoek on Thursday.