ZIMBABWE Cheetahs' coach Liam Middleton says Gardener Nechironga, Tangai Nemadire, Daniel Hondo and Jacques Leitao hold the key to the team's success, in the opening IRB World Seven Series in Dubai next Friday. The Cheetahs are grouped in Pool B together with Fiji, Samoa and Scotland.

Zimbabwe will open their campaign in the World Series with a gruelling tie against the Samoans.

Middleton admitted that Pool B was a "physical pool" but added the team would bank on the Fabulous Four.

"We have a mix of experienced and new players in the squad and its very important for the new players to hit the ground running, there is very little time to play catch up in international Sevens, you get 14 minutes to do your stuff.

"All I am expecting from the new players is maximum confidence. If they play with confidence, no more can be asked of them.

"Our experienced players will be key performers and the likes of Tangai, Danny Hondo and Gardner Nechironga are now at a time in their careers where they are making big impacts on the World Sevens Series.

"The challenge for our captain Jacques Leitao is to lead this group onto the pitch and his leadership in the World Cup proves he is what this team needs in pressure situations," Middleton said.

The Cheetahs are playing in two tournaments of the eight-legged World Series in Dubai and George. The Dubai series runs from December 5-6. The series in George, South Africa, runs from December 11 -12.

The Cheetahs hope to become one of the core teams on the World Series.

The 12 core teams competing in all eight events on the World Series are: Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, France, Kenya, New Zealand, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, USA, and Wales.

The battle to be considered for the other legs of the series begins in Dubai next Friday, when they face Samoa in the opening match.

"The Dubai Sevens is a blue-chip tournament of the series, therefore there are no easy teams to beat in this tournament, every pool is tough and considering the standard of teams that get invited to Dubai, Zimbabwe is greatly privileged to be invited to compete in this tournament," Middleton said.

"Our last meeting with Fiji in the SA leg of the series in 2008 was possibly one of our best performances in the series and I am hoping that the players will draw huge confidence from that. I believe the Fijians are vulnerable on day one of a tournament. Samoa is a very tough team to beat, but we will play a different game plan and this will give us a chance of upsetting them."

In the two editions of the Dubai series, Zimbabwe reached the semi-final bowl. In the 2008/09 series Zimbabwe were knocked 17-12 by France. The Cheetahs went down 10-17 to Tunisia in the 2006/07 series.

Scotland is the only team that the Cheetahs met in the last edition of the Dubai series. They team has a good record over the Scots. The Cheetahs beat Scotland 19-5 in the quarter-final bowl last year.

"Scotland is a team we must target to beat. Our record against them is very good, and we should have a psychological advantage over them," Middleton said.

After the Dubai series the Cheetahs will fly to George in South Africa.

Reigning IRB Sevens World Series champions South Africa will be defending their home title for the first time and face two other African sides - Kenya and Zimbabwe - in Pool A.

This series will be a tough nut to crack for the Cheetahs.

Zimbabwe leave for Dubai today.

Zimbabwe Cheetahs:

Gardner Nechironga, Slater Ndlovu, Wesley Mbanje, Fortune Chipendo, Grant Mitchell, Jacques Leitao (captain), Tafadzwa Mhende, Njabulo Ndlovu, Tangai Nemadire, Gerald Sibanda, Graham Kaulback, Danny Hondo.